Masked
by Desrani Sho
Summary: Hidden in the shadows, Naruto struggles with himself as he lives life. With a fake mask he wove to protect himself since he was 4, he struggles to truly let himself go. While he may have his own problems he needs to fix, he is also not blind to the masks of the people closest to him. What will happen when it slowly starts to slip?
1. Prologue

Early morning light shined through a cracked window, the glass barely hanging onto the frame. A young figure could be seen curled up in a very thin, very dirty blanket while laying on an awkwardly small bed. The figure lets out a groan before it, he, lifts his head up, showing dull blond hair, dirt all in it and droopy hazy blue eyes.

They glanced over to the side before he, Naruto, lets out a groan and sits up in bed. His alarm just struck six-thirty in the morning. He moves his legs over the side of the bed before standing up.

He languidly stretches, letting out a sigh of relief as his back pops. Shaking his head, he walks to a closed-door on the left of his room.

Opening it, he sees his run-down bathroom, the mirror cracked, cabinets and counters chipped, his toilet and shower broke in some way. Still, it somehow looked clean if he looked past all the broken things. He would fix it if he had the money, sadly, he doesn't. He sighs before he walks over to the shower, closing the door behind himself. He turns on the shower, shedding his clothes and quickly jumping in, not waiting for it to get hot as it never would.

He quickly washes up and gets out, drying off with a slightly dirtied towel. He then quickly gets dressed in an obnoxiously orange jumpsuit after putting on boxers and a black long-sleeved shirt. The outfit annoyed him as he'd rather wear dark colors but this was all he could get, the black shirt being something his Jiji got him.

Though, he couldn't complain all that much as his outfit went perfectly with the personality mask he wove, his self-defense. The mask he wore daily for the past ten years, he's thirteen now. His mask was obnoxious and loud so the bright orange fit perfectly. It also helped him hide anything.

Like his scars.

He sighs again before cracking his neck and grabbing a hair tie, pulling his now clean and golden hair into a low ponytail. He then stuffs it into his orange jacket, hiding it perfectly. There were short hairs everywhere that made him look more boyish though. His long golden hair reached his mid-calf. From the pictures he's seen, he looked a lot like his Mother with his long hair. It looks exactly like her style, just with more short hair on the top that makes him look like he doesn't have long hair. That and it was golden.

After fixing his golden trestles, he walks to the kitchen and grabs an apple. Quickly eating the apple and drinking some water, he brushes his teeth and grabs his weapon pouches, already stocked along with hiding weapons in small spaces on his body. He walks out of his house, feet silent, locking his door behind him.

He walked to the academy at a slow pace, taking to the shadows and alleyway's so he doesn't have to smile, at least until he gets to the academy anyway. He faintly wonders if there ever will be a time when he can let down his mask. _'Probably not…'_

For now, the world may never know. He sneaks out of an alleyway before looking up at the academy from the gate, having arrived just then. He holds back a sigh. _'Well, let's get this over with then…'_ He steps through the gates with a 'to-big-to-be-but-fools-everyone-fake-smile'. 'Let's just hope this goes well.'


	2. (1) Ninja Time!

Naruto grins at the receptionist at the front desk before slowly walking down the hall to his classroom with a bounce in his step, mask up, ignoring the evil glare the woman sent him. Once he was in front of the door, he takes a deep breath before slamming it open with a huge smile. He bounced into the room, eyes squeezed shut as he smiled a big, goofy smile, making him feel sick.

"Hey everybody! Your future Hokage is here!" He screams, his voice cracking and high pitched because of puberty. Though, as soon as he yelled that, a bubblegum pink-haired girl screeches and hits him over the head. He holds back a glare as he winces and lets out a whine, holding his head.

"Sakura-chan! Why'd ya have to hit me?" He whines loudly, playing his mask perfectly with an added pout. The pink-haired girl, Sakura, turns around and just glares hatefully at him. Though, he could see something odd shimmering in her eyes. _'Is that... Guilt?'_

"Because you're an idiot! Baka!" She yells back before she spots something. Naruto sees her shoulders slump slightly before straightening and growling. She shoots forwards, her body stiff as she gets into another fight with a long blond-haired girl named Ino. The fight was over a guy named Sasuke. Naruto really pitied the boy, with all those rabid girls after him, he was glad he acted like an idiot because having fangirls would just get tiring. Not like many would turn into his fangirls anyway with how their parents reacted to him.

He glances back at Sakura as he takes his seat next to Sasuke, the very one the girls were fighting over. Over the last few years, he's been noticing what Sakura's been doing. She used to be a very shy girl at the beginning before she became violent gradually. He noticed she was a lot like him in a way, with that mask she is wearing. Makes him wonder sometimes, what was her reason for picking up the mask.

Naruto snaps out of his thoughts as he quickly realizes he's been quiet for too long. He forces a glare and looks beside him to glare at his seatmate, Sasuke. "Why do you get all the girls, huh?" He says with a slight, fake pout.

It didn't escape his attention when he spots a look passing through Sasuke's eyes. Naruto has also taken notice of Sasuke's mask as well. He first started noticing it halfway through the first year together. A little bit after the time his clan was killed.

Naruto understood Sasuke and Sasuke didn't mind Naruto. Because of this, they've come to an unlikely agreement. Naruto would keep the girls away from Sasuke, and Sasuke would help Naruto with a few things every week. Sometimes it would be training, other times it would be as simple as getting Naruto food.

Sasuke never did question why Naruto asked him to get his food for him, and for that, Naruto was grateful.

Naruto watches Sasuke in hidden amusement and fake annoyance as he glares at him. Naruto just jumps up on the table, right in front of him. He glared right back at Sasuke, hidden mirth flashing across his eyes. Naruto could see Sasuke's amusement doing the same as he glared as well.

Sasuke opens his mouth to shoot something snooty out at the other but stops dead when he feels something soft on his lips. His eyes widen and he freezes in shock as he sees Naruto do the same.

They were kissing...

Sasuke watches as Naruto blushes and moves away, his mask braking slightly before anger_(Fake, he realizes)_ takes over his face and he turns to yell at the person behind him. The one that pushed him.

All Sasuke could do was watch as a slight blush crosses his face. He mentally shakes himself and makes himself turn away from the scene as Naruto got beat up by his fangirls. He wanted nothing more than to tear Naruto away from them but he held himself back and looked out the window to distract himself.

Oddly enough though, his thoughts kept going back to his bright-colored classmate.

**-0-0-0-**

Back in the Hokage's tower, laughing could be heard throughout the whole room as they watched what was going on through a crystal ball. Even the Hokage himself was chuckling quietly, slight worry in his aged eyes as he watched Naruto get beat up by the girls.

Though throughout the entire room, one did not laugh. No, he looked on with interest and hidden amusement.

**-0-0-0-**

Naruto grumbles to himself as he watches the kids get picked up by their parents. He watches and listens, a small frown on his face. He could hear them saying things about him to others but he brushes the comments off. Wouldn't be the first time they did this.

They had just gotten out of school, some kids leaving with their hitai-ate and others not. Naruto fell into the latter category, though it was by his choosing. He wanted to fail, or better yet, his friend did.

_'Kura-chan. Why did you make me fail this? I know you have a hunch but seriously, couldn't I have just passed?'_ Naruto asks with a slight pout and whine. A deep, gravelly voice answered him back, only hearable to Naruto himself.

**"Yes Kit, if not then someone might get killed. You know this Kit."** Kura-chan, or Kurama, answered back, a furry eyebrow twitching. **"And don't call me Kura-chan! I am a male!"**

Naruto hides a snicker, his sad face not changing. He's gotten too used at hiding his real emotions from others. Kurama was an old friend of Naruto's, hard not to be when he was literally sealed in him. Kurama was the nine-tailed fox that destroyed the village twelve years ago. Though, no one but Naruto and Kurama knew the real reason why.

From what Kurama would tell him, someone, an Uchiha he had said, had killed his kits so he sought revenge on them but he failed. He got sealed in Uzumaki Mito and from there, he was sealed every time his jailer almost died. It wasn't until Naruto came along that he was finally given kindness.

Naruto was sad that his own mother didn't try to befriend the beast, as she was the jailer before him. He would have figured that his mother of all people would have tried, knowing of her Uzumaki background from Kurama.

Suddenly, soft footsteps snap him out of his thoughts, making him lookup. His face takes on a slightly confused look. There before him was his other Sensei, Mizuki.

"Mizuki-Sensei? What are you doin' over here?" Naruto asks, ignoring Kurama's pleased growl. No matter how much he has changed, Kurama will always be a bloodthirsty fox.

Mizuki smiles, a bit to forced in Naruto's opinion, and stops right in front of him. He looks down at him with an expression that made Naruto's stomach twist.

"Well, you see I was just coming out here to help you and to apologize for Iruka's harsh behavior. I know he's hard on you but just know, he does it because he wants you to be strong." Mizuki says as he bends down slightly as his face to face with Naruto.

Naruto refrains from moving back as he looks even more confused, even as he smiles hugely. "Oh, well thanks Mizuki-Sensei! I didn't think of it that way!" He grins at his teacher before it falls slightly as uncertainty takes over his face. "'But... I still wanted to pass this year... haha, looks like I'll have to try next year." Naruto says, rubbing the back of his neck. He watches as Mizuki's face twists slightly before smoothing out in an off settling gentle façade.

"Actually Naruto-Kun, I was wondering if you could do this test for me. Oh, but don't tell anyone else about it." He says as his voice lowers. Naruto perks up with curiosity as he feels more than sees Kurama's tails swish in slight anger. Kurama knew he had been right.

"Test? What kind of test?" He asks.

Mizuki's smile stretches just a bit wider. "Well, every year the Hokage picks one teacher out of everyone to do this test. We are supposed to pick a student that failed the exam and let them do this test. If completed, you get to join the ninja ranks. So, what do you say? Will you do it?"

Naruto's eyes widen before excitement enters his face, his lips stretching in a too-big smile. He now understood what Kurama was getting at and he was excited to see where this would take him.

**"Told you I was right."**

_'Shut Up.'_

"Really!? Heck Yeah, I will! Thanks, Mizuki-Sensei! What do I gotta do?" Naruto says excitedly, voice a bit louder than it should be. Mizuki looks slightly nervous before he covers it up and stands up straight. He puts his hands on Naruto's shoulder and squeezes slightly. It took all Naruto had to not flinch once contact was made.

"Shh, lower your voice Naruto-Kun. Remember, this has to be kept secret until the test is completed." He pauses but at seeing Naruto's over-enthusiastic nod, he continues, fooled. "Now, to do this test, you must sneak into the Hokage Tower-"

**-0-0-0-**

Midnight soon came and Naruto set his plan into action. He quickly did his job and got the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, bypassing the Hokage with his Sexy-no-Jutsu. Using it reminded him of the face his other Sensei, Iruka, made when he used it a few days ago on the poor guy.

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, Naruto made his way into the western forest, close to the wall. He soon comes upon an old, broken shed. Looking around, he scans the environment and at seeing nothing, he makes his way towards the broken thing. He gracefully takes a seat close to the shed and leans his back up against it, letting out a sigh of relief.

While this wasn't the first time he had snuck into the Hokage tower, it was the first time he stole something so valuable.

**"Come on Kit, let's read this scroll while we still have it. Stop dwelling on your thoughts."** Kurama says, interrupting his train of thoughts. Naruto cracks a small smile at him before nodding and gently rolling open the scroll. He then begins to read while Kurama memorizes everything he sees through Naruto's eyes.

They had a lot of reading to do before Mizuki arrives.

**-0-0-0-**

Two Chakra signatures catch his attention, drawing him out of his training. He was practicing the Shadow Clone Jutsu as he had finished reading through the scroll one hour ago. He slowly continues to practice as they get closer and closer.

For the past three hours, he's been keeping a lookout and watching as the village went up in chaos because of what he had done. Because his Chakra was so dense and huge, he could feel a lot of other things with it. Kurama explained to him that he was Chakra sensitive, meaning he could easily identify everyone's Chakra and feelings. It would be even better if he knew the persons personally.

"Naruto-Kun! There you are! I've been looking for you for hours!" A man yells, which Naruto immediately identifies as his teacher, Iruka. Naruto freezes with a surprised face before he turns to his teacher fully. He grins broadly at him, part of it genuine as he did have a soft spot for him.

"Sensei! I'm guessing you're going to be testing me? What happened to Mizuki-Sensei then?" He asks, slightly confused as he feels Mizuki's Chakra come up and hide in a nearby tree.

Iruka pauses and narrows his eyes at Naruto, analyzing him. "Test? What test Naruto-Kun? Furthermore, why did you steal the Forbidding Scroll of Sealing?" He asks, looking angry but keeping his cool. Something didn't feel right about this situation and it seemed his old friend was in on it.

Naruto just grinned at him. "Well, Mizuki-Sensei told me about a test that Jiji gives out to a single teacher every year! He said that if I steal the scroll, then I'll become a ninja!" He says with fake joy, squinting his eyes closed as he grins wide, accentually hiding his emotions better.

Iruka frowns and walks closer to Naruto. Anger builds up as his face twists slightly, realization dawning on him at what Mizuki had done. He was betrayed by Mizuki. "Naruto-Kun, Mizuki tricked you! We need to leave before he comes back!"

Naruto was about to replay, his face taking on the look of confusion and fear, but Mizuki interrupted him by appearing in front of the tree he was hiding behind. Mizuki grins down at him sadistically as Naruto's and Iruka's eyes widen. Naruto takes a step back and faces his traitorous teacher, glaring with a childish touch to it, making it look non-threatening.

"Well, look what we have here. The demon and his teacher." He sneers as Naruto flinches openly. Kurama growls deeply, wanting out to kill this peasant. Naruto sends soothing emotions to him to help calm him as he frowns on the outside.

Iruka glares hatefully, hidden sadness and hurt in his gaze. He walks forward and pulls out Kunai, taking a protective stance in front of Naruto. He may be a Chunin and doesn't go on missions that often but that doesn't mean he stopped training.

"Mizuki, you traitor." Anger and vengeance could be heard in Iruka's voice, his tone as sharp as a blade. Mizuki merely laughs, his eyes shining with evil intentions. "Now, Now, Ruka-chan. Don't be so hasty. All I want is the scroll. Hand it over and I'll make sure your deaths will be painless. Well, yours anyway. The demons can be as painful as possible." He says as he slides his Fūma Shuriken out of their holsters.

Iruka grits his teeth and his glare intensifies. He opens his mouth to respond but Naruto beat him to it. "I'm not a demon! So stop saying that!" He yells at Mizuki, seeing an opportunity to learn about this so-called 'secret' without having to tell Jiji how he knew.

Iruka stiffens and throws his Kunai at Mizuki, seeing Mizuki's intent as he watched his ex-friends eyes gleam. "Mizuki, don't! That's against the law!" Naruto fakes a look of confusion and fear as he looks between his teachers, opening his mouth to question them but doesn't get the chance to as Mizuki laughs again. "Like I give a damn!" He then looks at Naruto.

"I see that old fool hasn't told you anything! Naruto, didn't you know? You're the Kyūbi! It was sealed into you at birth!" Mizuki yells before throwing one of his weapons. Iruka stiffens more before making an X shape with his Kunai and blocking the attack. It swerves and grazes his arm before embedding into the shed behind them.

Mizuki pulls his hand back swiftly, making the Fūma Shuriken fly back to him. Iruka quickly grabs ahold of Naruto's arm and swiftly bounds a few feet away from the weapon as it flew back to its master. If he didn't move them, they would've gotten hurt badly. He risks a sharp glance down at Naruto.

Said boy had his head down, bangs covering his eyes. He was frowning heavily as his shoulders shake slightly. Iruka holds back a sigh as he looks back at Mizuki, bringing his weapons back up, heart heavy. "Naruto-Kun, hurry up and run. Do not let Mizuki get the scroll!" He tells his student as he focuses solely on Mizuki.

Naruto, on the other hand, was having a hard time trying not to laugh._ 'This idiot seriously thinks I'm you, Kura-chan! Oh wow!'_ He mentally laughs. Kurama just sighed in aggregation, still feeling the need to kill the traitor.

**"Shut up Kit and get a move on, we need a plan and we need time for that. Do what your puny teacher asks and run already."** He growls out and he lays his head on his paws, curling his tails into himself.

Naruto just laughs at him but does as said. He sniffs before nodding to Iruka with wide eyes, even if he can't see, and darts off into trees. He could immediately hear the sounds of metal clanging and dull thumps as weapons embedded into trees.

He lets out a sigh as he creates three Shadow Clones, a Jutsu he learned from the scroll. He sends them off in opposite ways from himself and he runs in between the trees. The reason he wasn't jumping through them was that he didn't want to make it look like he knew the tree walking exercise. He didn't know if Jiji was watching him or not, though, he probably was.

Running around, dodging trees as he does so, he carefully listens into the battle, waiting. Once he got a good distance away, he stopped running and started to climb up the nearest tree. Quickly, he climbs up and hides in the bunches of leaves, waiting.

Just like he had thought, only a few minutes more of waiting and he could hear the sounds of fighting grow closer. He slowly lets out a breath before peaking out from behind the tree. What he sees makes him freeze for a moment before he experiences a familiar burning sensation.

Anger. It coerced through him as he watched on, his mouth twitching downwards. In front of him was his two Sensei, fighting. What made him angry though was that Iruka was on the ground coughing up blood while leaning up against a tree. Mizuki was over him with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Naruto growled, showing his anger but held himself back as he continued to watch. While he may not act like himself around anyone, he still held a soft spot for Iruka. He was one of the first to be kind to him so he'd rather have him alive than dead.

He focuses and listens in on them. Because of his heightened senses, he could easily hear what they were saying.

"Well, Ruka-chan. It looks like this is the last time we'll meet. Any lasts words? Something I could use against the demon?" Mizuki asks, scorn and sadistic glee in his voice. Iruka groans slightly as he just glares at him, his sharp eyes cutting through Mizuki.

"Naruto-Kun is not a demon." He simply states. Mizuki frowns as he pulls out his Fūma Shuriken. "Hah, yeah right. Don't tell me that you don't feel any hatred towards him for what he has done."

Naruto pays close attention to Iruka, interested in what his Sensei thought of him and Kurama. Iruka just glares harder. "While I do feel hatred towards it, I can at least tell when something is a scroll and a Kunai."

Naruto's eyes widen as Iruka continues, his anger dissipating a bit. "Naruto is Naruto. He is not the Kyūbi. The Kyūbi is sealed in him, yes, but that doesn't make him a monster!" Iruka grunts out, one eye closing because of pain. He reaches down and holds his side to try and stop the bleeding. Earlier in the battle, Mizuki managed to stab him in the side with a Kunai.

Mizuki just tsks and raises his Fūma Shuriken over his head, getting ready to bring it down. "You know, I really like you Iruka. It's such a pity you have to die. But, ah, oh well. Have fun in hell, old friend." He brings down the Fūma Shuriken in a clean slice.

**CLICHENG!**

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of metal hitting metal, preventing Mizuki's attack from hitting its target. Mizuki was frozen in shock as he looks in front of him, at Naruto. He immediately jumps back as he feels unease.

Naruto stands in front of his injured Sensei as he glares at Mizuki, Kunai in hand. His glare pierced Mizuki's soul as he could see pure hatred in his eyes. Naruto was infuriated. Mizuki hides a shiver and smirks cockily at him.

"Well, if it isn't the demon. Finally decided to stop hiding?" He questions as he gets into a battle stance. Naruto just glares at him, silent, before he looks behind him at his injured Sensei.

Iruka was wide-eyed, staring at his student. He felt fear and warmth course through him. Once he realizes the situation though, he quickly opens his mouth to tell Naruto to run. Naruto, at seeing his Sensei about to tell him to flee, interrupts.

"Sorry Sensei but I'm not going to run away from this. Not if it costs you your life." He says, showing his seriousness in his eyes, worry, and love hidden behind that. Iruka was just shocked, mouth slightly open as he watched Naruto. He saw the seriousness in his students face, his voice, along with the other emotions. He knew then, that there was no way to stop him as he had already set his mind to it. All he could do now was watch on helplessly and hope his student won.

_'He's grown...'_

Naruto turns back to Mizuki and smiles at him with closed eyes. "Yes, yes I did. I couldn't just watch you kill my favorite Sensei now could I?" Naruto says with false cheer. He opens his eyes then, piercing Mizuki with them again. His carefree smile soon turns into a deep settled frown.

**"Careful Kit, calm down. It wouldn't do well getting so angry."**

"I learned a new Jutsu from the scroll today. Looks like you'll be my first test dummy so don't get killed Sensei!" He says, throwing a quick grin at him as he forms hand signs.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yells out dramatically. Soon, there were thousands of Naruto's around, all Shadow Clones. Naruto watches as Mizuki pales considerably and freezes. He and Kurama took sadistic glee in Mizuki's demise as they had never really liked Mizuki. He had always tried finding ways to sabotage Naruto at the academy.

_'Sorry, Kura-chan.'_ All Kurama did was huff.

Naruto's Shadow Clones quickly pounce on him, downplaying their skills considerably as he took into account Kurama's words. He tried calming down. All too soon, the battle was over and all that was left was a beaten-down body laying on the ground. Naruto didn't care if he killed him or not as he quickly turned around, putting up a façade of worry, some of it genuine.

"Iruka-Sensei! Are you okay?! You're badly hurt!" Naruto says, quickly going over to Iruka's side. Iruka was just staring at Naruto with a soft emotion, shock right beside it. He glances at the beaten body of Mizuki before looking back at Naruto.

He softly smiles at the boy, making said boy's heart skip a beat and his eyes widen. Naruto had never seen this kind of look directed at himself. "Sensei?" He whispers out, confusion taking over his worry. He was genuinely confused at his Sensei's reaction to him.

Why was he smiling so kindly at him? Why was it... warm?

"I'm fine, Naruto," Iruka says, hesitating before continuing. "Close your eyes Naruto, I got a surprise for you." Naruto looks at him in confusion as Kurama was oddly silent. He doesn't question it though, trusting Iruka to some degree. He closes his eyes.

Iruka gently slips his hitai-ate off his forehead and slowly puts it on his student's forehead, hands shaky. All the while he was feeling love for this child. The confused expression did not escape his notice. It made his heart hurt for the possible reason of why he was confused.

"Okay Naruto-Kun, you can open your eyes now," Iruka says, pushing away the dark feelings. Naruto had felt an odd weight on his head but didn't question it. Though, when he did open his eyes, he decided it was a good idea to question it. Iruka was without his hitai-ate.

His eyes were wide as he raises his hands up to his forehead, holding his breath. He was shocked. "Sensei..." He whispered again, feeling this moment to special to talk loudly. Iruka just smiles at Naruto with love and joy, confusing Naruto more but his amazement overpowered it.

"Congratulations on becoming a ninja, Naruto-Kun."


	3. (2) Sensei

All was quiet as Naruto stood next to his injured Sensei. They were in the Hokage's office returning the Forbidden Scroll back to the aged Hokage. It had been a few minutes since then, the room was still silent with the ever-present sound of Hiruzen smoking his pipe. It was slightly tense as Naruto looks up, crystal blue eyes locking with aged brown ones.

All the Hokage does is stare back while taking a long puff from his pipe, his eyes thoughtful but carefully giving nothing away. Naruto didn't even try to find out what his surrogate grandfather was thinking as he glanced down at his pipe instead. Crinkling his nose, he tried to not breathe in the smell but fails. He disliked the smell of tobacco.

After the battle that occurred in the western forest, Naruto and Iruka had waited for the Anbu to come and pick up a bloody and tied up Mizuki. Iruka had then locked hands with Naruto, slowly making their way back to the village in peaceful silence. There was small talk here and there but both didn't want to ruin the warm atmosphere around them.

Sadly, once they got to the Hokage's office, that warm atmosphere dissipated as the Hokage stared sternly at them. Naruto shifted, not liking being stared at.

Hiruzen, on the other hand, was thinking of the recent events that unfolded before his very eyes. He was troubled that his surrogate grandson had to find out about his tenant that way. He could only hope that it wasn't too damaging on the poor boy's mental state. He already had enough on his plate as is.

Finally, after a few more minutes of silence, Hiruzen lets out a sigh and closes his tired eyes. Lowering his pipe, he takes in a breath and leans back in his chair.

Opening his eyes again, he continues his staring before he finally speaks up. "Naruto-kun, do you know the severity of what you have done?" He asks, his brown eyes sharp as he stares straight into Naruto's crystal blue ones.

Naruto freezes slightly before letting out a sigh and slumping as he bowed his head to the Hokage. He was slightly pouting. "Yes, Jiji... I'm sorry..." He mumbles out. Hiruzen's eyes soften at him as he sets his pipe down.

"While it was not alright, it was reasonable. You yourself did not know what was going on. You were tricked by a traitor. I am sorry that happened to you, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen says, his voice soft as he was not able to honestly be mad at his surrogate grandson.

Naruto, realizing he wasn't in trouble, looks back up at Hiruzen before hesitantly smiling at him. "So... Jiji... About what Mizuki-Sensei said... Am I- I mean- Um..." Naruto stuttered, finding it difficult to explain. Inwardly, he actually was finding it hard to say the word 'monster' as he never liked calling Kurama one.

Hiruzen and Iruka's eyes soften before Hiruzen speaks up. "No, Naruto-kun. You are not a monster. I am sorry you had to find out that way, I was planning to tell you about it after you graduated but it seems I was too late." He paused to let the information sink in, taking another puff of his pipe in the process. Soon, he continues. "The Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi into you, wishing for you to be referred to as a hero. Sadly, it seemed his plan did not go as intended..."

Naruto, putting up the face of sadness, frowns as he looks Hiruzen in the eyes. How he hated lying to him but it must be done. "The Forth... B-But why? Why me?" He asks, gaining pity looks for the two adults in the room.

He hated it even more.

"I am sorry, Naruto-kun, but I can not tell you that, yet. Please, be patient with me. It is for your own safety." Hiruzen said with sad and gentle eyes. Naruto forces a pout and childishly glares at him. He did understand though. Looking away and crossing his arms, he grumbles.

"Fine..." Turning back to Hiruzen, he then points accusingly at the old Hokage, his eyes narrowed in a glare that looked more like a kitten than anything. "'But you better tell me as soon as you can! I'm not gonna be a kid forever, ya know!" He says with determination shining in his eyes.

Hiruzen and Iruka chuckle, Iruka lightly patting Naruto's head with his non-bloody hand. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. The time will come soon enough. You just have to be patient for a bit, okay?"

Naruto pouts but nods. He made sure not to flinch when Iruka touched him but it was hard. He wasn't used to kind touches yet.

Deciding it was time to divert the subject, he gains a curious look as he stared at Hiruzen and Iruka. "So... Does this mean I'm a Ninja now?" He had an excited look in his eyes as he clenched his fists.

It was silent in the room for a moment before Hiruzen and Iruka share a laugh as Iruka nods. "Of course, Naruto-kun. I did pass you after all."

Naruto gains a wide grin as he bounces lightly on his feet. He shoots a look at Hiruzen, wanting to hear his response as well. Hiruzen, at seeing the look, just smiles gently at the boy he thought of as his grandson.

_'That smile... It feels different than Iruka-sensei's...'_

"Iruka-kun is correct, Naruto-kun. Congratulations on becoming a Ninja. Protect this village and show the world just who Uzumaki Naruto is."

Naruto straightens in pride as he closes his eyes with a wide smile. "You bet I will, Jiji! I'm gonna be Hokage someday so I gotta!"

_'I'm sorry...'_

Hiruzen chuckles as he nods. "Now then, I believe it is time for bed, Naruto-kun. You've had a rough night. Iruka-kun, I'll have someone escort you to the hospital."

Naruto pouts as he squints his eyes at Hiruzen. "Awe, Jiji! I don't wanna go to bed! Plus, I wanna escort Iruka-sensei there!" He complains, knowing he'll be sent home anyway.

Hiruzen sighs and shakes his head, hiding a smile. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but don't you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow? Don't you want to get all the rest you can?"

Naruto pouts and grumpily stares at Hiruzen before Iruka pats his head gently. Naruto holds back another flinch, his finger twitching slightly. He looks up at his injured sensei in confusion.

"Naruto-kun, I'll be fine. You will see me in class tomorrow. Now, why don't you go home and get some sleep? When we have time later, why not get some ramen with me? I promise an extra bowl when we do."

Naruto was still pouting but he cracks a smile before his shoulders slump. "Okay, Sensei, Jiji... But you better keep that promise! Maybe we can all go out to eat ramen together, too!" He grins up at the two adults, getting real smiles in return. He then turns around and waves his hand as he jogs towards the door.

"Goodnight Jiji, Iruka-sensei! See ya later!"

**0-0-0**

Naruto slips through the alleyways as he makes his way towards the Academy. He was curious how his sensei was doing after last nights fight so he was moving slightly faster than he usually would. He was a little worried about his favorite Sensei.

Soon, he made his way inside, ignoring the lady's glare as he made his way towards his classroom. Once he reached the door, he pushed it open as he grins widely, excitement shown all over him as he bounded in. Discreetly looking around the room, he was slightly disappointed at not seeing Iruka in the room but he pushed it aside. Maybe his injuries were more severe? He sure hoped not.

Before Naruto could even make it to the steps, Inuzuka Kiba, a classmate, called out to him.

"Hey dead last! What are you doing in here? You didn't pass!" A small yip on top of the Inuzuka's head sounded out. Kiba chuckles even as he stares at Naruto.

Naruto just grins at them as he shows his hitai-ate to Kiba, pointing to his neck. "I did pass Kiba! See!" He then jogs up the stairs as he laughs, soon taking his seat beside Sasuke. He watches as Sasuke gives him a cursory glance, subtilty nodding before looking back out the window. Naruto's smile became a little more real at that.

He always did have this odd connection to the Uchiha, even when he saw the boy when his clan was still alive. He had always felt close to him. Naruto didn't understand much of it but he knew enough to know it wasn't bad.

Letting out a silent sigh, he forces himself to bounce in his seat as he waits, a huge grin on his face and his eyes squinted. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long as the door slid open and Iruka walked in.

Naruto subtilty analyzed him through his silted eyes. Iruka was acting as if nothing had happened, as if he wasn't hurt. Naruto could see though, that he was favoring his left leg more than his right. That and he was slightly hunched. Naruto was slightly surprised that was all but he kind of figured as his sensei was stronger than he previously thought. He was just glad that no one in the classroom but he could see that Iruka was hurt.

Well, except for maybe Shikamaru. He was making an odd face at Sensei.

He caught Iruka's eyes then before he gives him a big grin, he wasn't surprised if it was a little more genuine than previously. He got a gentle smile back. It reminded Naruto of the feeling he got when he received his hitai-ate.

Confused, he slightly tilts his head even as he smiles before pushing the thought away and focuses on Iruka.

"Everyone settle down! Today we are going over everyone's teams."

At those few words, the class quieted down and pays close attention to Iruka. Iruka, glad that they listened, smiles. A hand then shoots up, causing him to raise his eyebrow.

"Yes, Fumi-san?" He asks, causing the young brown-haired girl to blush but continue on with her question.

"Where's Mizuki-sensei?"

Naruto watches as Iruka slightly stiffened but continued to smile at the girl. "Mizuki-san had to get pulled out for something. I believe our commander wanted him on another job. Now then, let's continue."

Not giving anyone time to ask any more questions, he starts listing off the groups. Naruto laid his head down on his hand as he blankly stared at Iruka.

**"Hey kit, can we go hunting tonight?"**

Naruto's hand twitches in surprise.

_'Yeah, sure Kura-chan. Should we go to the North forest or the West forest?'_

**"North, it has better food and fewer guards."**

Naruto sends a response of agreement as he relishes in their peaceful silence, the outside world quiet in his daze. That silence did not last long though as Kurama interrupts it.

**"Kit... I think it's about time to lose it. You've been wearing it for far too long. Once you become a ninja, you'll be safe from the council, the villagers. No matter how hated you are, no villager is stupid enough to fight a shinobi of any rank."**

Frowning, Naruto disagrees. _'I don't believe that's true Kura-chan. They will still see me as a threat. And you must not forget, even some ninja hurt me. While I may be safe from the civilian counsel, that doesn't mean I'm safe from everything else.'_

Kurama lets out a guttural growl as he glares at his jailer. While Naruto wasn't there to see the glare, he could weirdly feel it.

**"Kit, it's killing you! Don't you understand that what you are doing is harming you? You can't hide forever, it will only lead to your destruction!"**

"-Uzumaki Naruto-"

Snapping out of his daze, he pays attention to Iruka when he hears his name. "Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura. Team 8-"

Naruto decides to jump in at that moment, figuring it would be out of character to not do so. He would respond to Kurama later.

"Iruka-sensei! Why do I have to be on Sasuke-teme's team!?" He stands up yelling as he points to Sasuke. Sasuke just glances over at him before huffing and turning to look back out the window.

"Yeah! Why do I have to have Naruto-baka on our team!?" Sakura interjects with a mad frown as she glares at Naruto. Naruto, in turn, takes on a hurt look before he just huffs and glares at Sasuke. That is before Iruka starts speaking.

"That's because the rookies of the year get paired up with the dead last. Now sit back down and let me finish!" Iruka orders with a stern look. Naruto just sticks his tongue out at Iruka before sitting back down. Iruka narrows his eyes.

"Now then, Team 8 is constructed of Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino. Team 9 is already in commotion. Team 10 is constructed of Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chōji."

Naruto stopped listening at that point, not really caring about the other teams. He holds back another sigh before he closes his eyes as he rests his cheek on his hand. The words of what Kurama said floated through his head as he rested, blocking out the world. After much thought, he responds to Kurama before he shuts him out, not wanting to talk.

_'I know, but what else am I to do, Kurama? If I show myself now... Even you know the consequences.'_

**0-0-0**

Naruto lets out a long drawn out sigh as he glares at the door, bouncing in his seat. They had been waiting for their Sensei for three hours already and he was getting bored. He was just itching to get out the latest book he had bought. He was very curious about what was going to happen next.

Deciding to instead not break character and read, he gets up as he sprouts a large devious grin and goes over to Iruka's desk, said man long gone already. He grabs a few pencils and the chalk eraser before he goes over to the door. He absently takes notice of Sakura and Sasuke watching him as he sets up his trap. While he was doing do, Sakura speaks up.

"What are you doing, Baka?"

Without skipping a beat, he responds. "Setting up a trap."

He hears Sasuke snort. "As if a Jounin would fall for that," Sasuke mutters. Naruto grins as he glances back at Sasuke. "You'd be surprised Teme."

Ignoring anything else, he was soon done, causing him to laugh and rub his hands together. He then notices Sakura stand up. Instead of screaming at him that he was being an idiot, she curiously walks over.

He distantly notices a small presence enter the building.

Naruto just grins at her as he steps back from his traps and leans against Iruka's desk. "He's late so this should teach him!" He explains as he sees her confusion in her eyes.

"Hn, he was probably busy, Dobe." Both Sakura and Naruto look over at Sasuke as he inserts himself into the conversation before they hear footsteps. Even though Sasuke said it would never work, he, along with Sakura and Naruto, look over at the door in anticipation. Sasuke just hid his better.

A hand reaches into the cracked door and pushes the door out of the way, letting the chalk eraser land on silvery strands but tilting his head as pencils soar past him.

_'So he was the presence I felt... Why is his chakra so hidden?'_

Naruto bursts out laughing. While he was slightly amused, he was more intrigued by who their Sensei was. Glancing over at his soon-to-be teammates, he sees Sakura stifling her laughter while Sasuke was smirking.

Naruto mentally smiles before subtly analyzes their new Sensei.

The man had silver locks of hair that shot out in odd directions while he had on the standard Jounin uniform but with a mask covering half of his face. His hitai-ate was covering part of the other half as it was worn over his left eye. Naruto immediately recognized him from the bingo books he snagged every now and then.

He was Hatake Kakashi, an S-rank ninja and famed for knowing over a thousand Jutsu.

Naruto was a bit excited about having this man as his Sensei but he did his best to not get overly hopeful, not wanting to be let down later. Mentally sighing, he stops laughing as he grins widely at Kakashi.

He watches as Kakashi's face shifts, the look in his lone eye. Amusement and something else was there that he couldn't identify. While his face was three-fourths of the way covered, he could still spot the subtle pull of the mask, the crinkle at the edge of his black eye, the way his partly shown eyebrow moves as well as the slight narrowing of his only visible eye. That wasn't even going off his body language either, not that he showed much. Kakashi had himself under control pretty well.

A sudden shift snaps him out of his subtle observing, causing him to look up into Kakashi's sole eye. He sees the deadpan look somehow portrayed on his face. Naruto was slightly confused on how he did it when most of his face was covered but he figured he'd find out later. He was mainly amused at how he looked with that expression.

"My first impression of you three... I hate you. Meet me up on the roof, don't be late." A poof of smoke appears soon after, leaving nothing behind when the smoke dissipates.

They just stared at the place he was previously before Naruto lets out a frustrated sound as he looks back over at his teammates. Sakura and Sasuke were glaring at the place Kakashi used to be standing before Sasuke stands up. He looks at his teammates then, Sakura doing the same soon after. They all share a silent look before Sasuke snorts and walks ahead of the two. Naruto smiles slightly, barely a pull of the lips. Sakura smiles as well, hers more visible before she runs after Sasuke.

_'Maybe this team won't turn into ruins...'_

"Wait for me, Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto follows, slightly out of character but he didn't mind. He, for some reason, felt at peace with Sasuke and Sakura. Maybe it had something to do with all of them wearing masks or maybe even because of them helping each other out in secret. Naruto helped Sasuke, Sasuke helped Naruto, and Sakura helped both boys. Naruto knew for certain she didn't like Sasuke the way his fangirls liked him which lead him to make the conclusion of her protecting Sasuke from the other girls.

She also helped Naruto by giving him clothes in secret. Naruto had wondered where they came from one day as they always appeared on his doorstep every month so he stayed up and watched. He found out Sakura was the one leaving clothes for him. Naruto kept some but mainly gave the clothes to some other orphans who needed them. He didn't exactly know why she was doing all this for them but he wouldn't question it yet. He would like to get to know her first. Know both of them first. Maybe since they were a team now, he would get the chance.

_'Maybe... They can be the ones?'_

**"...Maybe..."**

0-0-0

They soon made it to the roof in comfortable silence. Before they got to the door though, Naruto laughs loudly before rushing up. Throwing open the door, Naruto scream.

"I beat you Teme! Take that!" Laughing loudly, he sticks his tongue out at him. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura were slightly shocked but went into their mask almost immediately. Sasuke glares at him before Hning and walking to the steps.

"That was a fluke."

Naruto glares and puffs out his cheeks as Sakura comes through the door with pursed lips, narrowed eyes, and clenched fists. She looked about ready to scream. Opening her mouth, she gets interrupted before she could even speak.

"Maa, now that we are all here, take a seat and introduce yourself," Kakashi says with a weird eye smile. Naruto and Sakura just huff and sit down on either side of Sasuke.

"Then why don't you go first!" Sakura huffs out as she glares at him. Kakashi continues to eye smile before he looks over them.

"Oh me? Well... My name is Hatake Kakashi and I like a lot of things. I dislike a lot of things as well. My hobbies... Well, you'll find out when you're older. As for my dream... I hadn't really thought about it." His voice was bland but peppy as he said that, gaining deadpanned looks from Naruto and his teammates.

_'That tells us nothing... At least he has yet to criticize me.'_

**"Don't jinx it, kit."**

_'Shut it'_

"Alright, Pinky, you're up."

Sakura frowns and glares at Kakashi but complies. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like-" She cut herself off for a moment, gave Naruto and Sasuke sideway glances before continuing. "I like cream buns, gardening, and um..." She blushes before looking at Sasuke. She then frowns and glares at Naruto. Naruto just grins at her. He could see another look of guilt pass through her eyes. "I dislike Naruto-baka and Ino-pig! My hobbies are gardening and..." Blushes again, she looks over to Sasuke. "My dream..." She continues to look over at Sasuke before giggling.

Kakashi had a lazy look to him as he watched before he looked over at Sasuke. "Alright, you're next broody."

Sasuke glares at Kakashi in disdain. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like anything," Sakura gains a hurt look as Naruto glares at him. "I dislike everything. My hobbies are training. As for my dream... No, it will become a reality. I will kill a certain man before I revive my clan."

Naruto notices Kakashi sigh slightly before he sees him look at Naruto. Naruto just grins at Kakashi.

"Okay, blondie."

Naruto cheers loudly before giving his speech. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I love Ramen, Jiji, and when Iruka-sensei buys me ramen! I hate the three minutes you have to wait for instant ramen! My hobbies are training! My dream is to become the Hokage!" He yells with cheer as he grins widely, eyes shut.

He felt like gagging.

Kakashi eye smiled again before nodding. "Good, it seems that you three have defined personalities. Now then, what we will be doing is a survival test tomorrow at five am. Don't be late! Oh, and I suggest you don't eat or you'll puke." He then disappears in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto twitches when Sakura shoots up and screams out in frustration. "What the hell!?" He nervously chuckles as he spots Sasuke scooting a bit towards him. "Sakura-chan... Please calm down." Holding up his hands, he motions her to calm down with a nervous smile. It didn't escape his notice though as he feels Kakashi's chakra not too far away. _'Is he watching us?'_

Sakura just glares at him, making him push the thought away as he pays attention to her. "Why?! I have every right to be mad! That man just ditched us! And survival?! What is this? A test?!" As soon as she yelled that though, everyone quieted down. Her eyes widen as her words sink in.

Naruto's arms fall to his side as he frowns, spotting Sasuke narrowing his eyes at her.

"You know, Sakura-chan... You may be right about that. We already did survival in the academy..." Naruto mutters with a thoughtful look on his face. Sasuke and Sakura stare at him before they both relax. Sasuke nods.

"Hn, it is a possibility so it can't be ruled out. We should prepare." Standing up, Sasuke voices his opinion as he stares at his teammates.

"But didn't Sensei tell us not to eat? And what about the training grounds? He didn't even tell us the one we should meet at." Sakura says as she rubs her arm, a frown on her face, thoughtful.

It was silent before Naruto stands up as well. "Well... As for the training ground, maybe it's number seven? I mean, we are team 7 after all. For the other thing, we should be prepared anyways. After all, Sensei only suggested to not eat. He didn't order it." It was silent once more as they thought over his words. Naruto sighs mentally at all this. Their Sensei was seeming more troublesome than it's worth at the moment.

As Naruto watched them go over it, he speaks up again once he sees them come to a decision. "So... eat and meet at Training Grounds seven at five?" He questions. Sakura nods before Naruto sees her eyes widen slightly. She stiffens, making Naruto stiffen in return and glance around. He spots Sasuke doing the same as he was searching.

"Problem?" He questions.

Sakura jolts before shaking her head and glancing at both of them. "I'm sorry but I have to go! I'll see you guys tomorrow morning!" She then turned around and ran to the door, quickly opening it and running down the stairs before anyone could say goodbye. Naruto frowns before looking at Sasuke. Sasuke looks back, meeting his gaze head-on. After a few moments of staring at each other, Sasuke hn's and turns around.

"Later, Dobe."

Naruto scowls at him and huffs. "Later, Teme! Don't forget to let the door hit you on the way out!" All he got was a snort before he saw him disappear into the building. Sighing, Naruto sits back down on the steps and lays back. He stares up at the clouds in thought.

**"Kit, we should get ready for tonight's hunt."**

_'Oh! Right!'_

Shooting back up, he quickly bolts to the railing. After sending a quick burst of chakra so see if anyone was near, which there wasn't, he pushes off the railing and starts bounding his way through the village on the rooftops.

_'Sorry, Kura-chan! Thanks for reminding me.'_

**"Any time, kit."**


	4. (3) Bell Test

Naruto grumbles as he sits against the logs in training ground 7. He was tired but he dared not to sleep. He had gotten up at five am and came here just like Kakashi told them too. Though it might not be the right training field, with how he could feel Kakashi's charka, he doubted that. Sneaky jerk was here even before they got here.

With the bonus of having his stomach full, he wasn't having much difficulty this early in the morning, not like he eats or sleeps much anyway. Looking over to his two teammates, he took notice that both of them took his advise as they weren't shifting in uncomfortableness from no food. Wouldn't be the first time he saw them hungry and uncomfortable from hunger pains. He never questioned them about it when it happened though, just snuck food to them without them knowing.

Sakura was on his right with Sasuke on hers as he sat on her left, making Sakura be the middle. From what he could see, she was messing with something in her hands. Slightly curious, he leans closer to get a good look at it. His eyes widen in surprise at what he sees.

"Chakra stings?" He mumbles out, surprise clear in his small voice.

Sakura glances to Naruto at hearing his mumble. She smiles at him and nods. "Yeah. Recently, I've been reading about Medical Ninja and this was one of the things needed to help with chakra control. They're really easy but I don't have a lot of chakra to keep them up for long." She stopped talking, blushing slightly as they disperse in her hands. She was rambling.

Naruto smiles slightly, an idea popping into his head. He quickly glances at Sasuke, only to see him watching them with hidden interest.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, have you read about Lady Tsunade?" He questions. He sees her tilt her head slightly before nodding, interest shimmering in her eyes, as well as curiosity.

"Yes but not much. Only that she's one of the Legendary Sannin. Why?"

Naruto grins up at her with an excited gleam in his eyes. "If you're looking into being a medic, why not read her work then? She's the best Medical Nin ever to exist! 'And, she's also allowed on the battlefield! I heard they call Medical Nins who fight, Battle Medics. Oh, and Lady Tsunade is also famed for her strength. Mainly, her strength to punching boulders and making them break. It's amazing!"

Laughing, Naruto looks over Sakura and Sasuke as after he finished talking. He kind of went on about her but he didn't care as they were all true. It would benefit them if they had a medic on their team and from what he's seen, Sakura could fit the bill. Seeing the excited gleam enter her emerald green eyes just made him strengthen that thought.

"She sounds amazing!" Sakura says with awe in her voice. Naruto just grins at her. "Thank you, Naruto! I think I will read about her. If anything, I could be the healer for you two. I know I'm not the best at battle anyway."

Sasuke nodded slightly at her comment, finally forgoing his fake uninterest as he speaks up. "If you're the medic, would we be the front liners?" He asks, his voice low, as if hesitant to ask. Both Naruto and Sakura look over at him before Naruto grins wider at him. "Yeah! Though we could also specialize in other stuff. Like, say, for you Teme, you could do assassination and recon. I could do trapping and sabotage while Sakura-chan does Genjutsu and possibly seduction. Or we could also pick up other skills like Kenjutsu, Teme, Sealing, me, and Taijutsu for Sakura-chan. It just depends if we want to though." Naruto pauses in his speaking before letting out an embarrassed laugh as he looks away and rubs the back of his neck.

They were staring at him like he grew another head. Seems he went too far in that idea, even if it was a good one. If he was stuck on a team then he wanted them all to be able to protect themselves.

**"Doing so will only show them your true self, Kit."**

_'… I'd rather have a whole team than a dead one… Plus, they don't scorn me… and it's not like I'm out of character at the moment, at least not that much.'_

"Heheh…Eh, never mind then… It's just an idea…"

"No! That's a brilliant idea, Naruto! I can be a battle medic with knowledge of Genjutsu and Taijutsu. Heck, I could even pick up Kenjutsu. While iffy about seduction, I think I will pick it up if just for knowing how to do it. I'd rather have the skill and use it than not having the skill and needing it… What about you, Sasuke-kun? What will you do?" Sakura asks, enthusiasm clear on her face as she looks over to Sasuke with bright green eyes.

Sasuke was silent as he looks over his teammates, deep in thought over what he could do as well as hesitant to admit it. Naruto was just grinning at him, having gotten over his embarrassment pretty quickly. Naruto could understand Sasuke's silence, the look in his dark eyes said it all. He was hesitant to open up and get attached. Naruto heard of the massacre and seeing your family dead can really traumatize a child. It did just that with Sasuke and, from what Naruto has been able to find, no one helped him in the areas most needed. So it was fully understandable that Sasuke was hesitant and if somewhat afraid.

Finally, after a few more moments of silence, he spoke up, though reluctantly, Naruto could tell. The way his body was slightly hunched in on itself spoke of that and a few insecurities he must be feeling.

"Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Assassination. It is not a bad idea to pick up a few small skills, like recon or tracking." Sasuke hesitated before continuing, curling just a bit more into himself but not allowing that to rule him. "I always thought I would be better suited for silent killing then front line kills."

Naruto laughs slightly as he nods in agreement, Sakura smiling at them with a small blush on her cheeks as she shifts her body to face neither boys. Naruto figured she must have sensed Sasuke's discomfort with the way her eyes ranked his form for a moment. "Then Naruto will be the tank? I mean, he does have a lot more chakra then either of us." She voices, a gleam entering in her vibrant green eyes. Naruto nods as Sasuke looks over at him with a calculative look in his eyes as they narrow slightly. Naruto was slightly uncomfortable under that look but he hid it well.

"Yeah! I'll be the tank! I was also looking into being the supporter as well though." At that, Sasuke's eyes narrow further as he relaxes slightly, Sakura raising an eyebrow in question. He hurriedly continues, explaining himself. "Well, I'm looking into sealing. I'm already pretty good at it! I can make most of the basic seals like storage seals and explosion seals! I was thinking that I could make seals for everyone, save money that way too. AH! I'm also looking into trying my hand at assassination, I already got pretty good at hiding too! Same with trapping!"

At that, he gets strange looks. He didn't blame them for it.

"Assassination? Dobe, you can hardly stand still and quiet down." Sasuke said as he stares blankly at Naruto, finally relaxing enough-but still slouching- that Naruto deemed him non-dangerous to his own mind. Good, he distracted him. Sakura nodding in agreement. Naruto just grins mischievously at them as he tilts his head with squinted eyes.

"Then why is it only _after_ I've done a prank, do Anbu start chasing? Or why is it that I outrun the Anbu? If you haven't noticed, only Iruka-sensei catches me. No one has caught me _while_ I was making the prank and I was wearing orange!" He laughs in glee as he sees the dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"Hahaha! What, you think I only did it for fun? It's fun messing with ninja who think I'm useless." The last part was said in a slightly lower voice but he knew they heard it anyway. He shoots up off the ground and stretched, not looking to his other teammates even while he grinned widely. He pushes away the guilt he felt for having to lie so much but it was based around the truth. It was fun to screw with people using his pranks.

Sasuke and Sakura were oddly silent as Naruto finished his stretching. That and there was a small weird hiccup in Kakashi's slightly hidden chakra. Naruto couldn't understand why.

"Whelp! With that out of the way, why don't we stretch?! I'm getting bored with all this sitting around! Ne, Ne! Why don't we prank Kakashi-sensei?" He finally looks over at his new teammates, only to see Sakura looking at him with a slightly worried and confused look, the earlier shock still somewhat present but with a slight bit of awe into the mix. While the looks were hidden well, he could still identify them over their usually facial features. Naruto was surprised at the emotions he could see but he hid it well as he grinned at them.

Sasuke had looked away as soon as Naruto looked back at them but with the way his eyebrows were furrowed and how his stare was hard, Naruto could see he was confused and going over everything. Probably about him, if he thought about it logically. It was either that or how they all interacted. Either one would work. At least it got him off his dark thoughts, even if it was at the suspense of Naruto.

It only took a few seconds for his words to sink in so when they did, the previously hidden emotions on their faces vanished deeper into their masks. Sasuke, looking mildly indifferent now, lets out a 'Hn' as he leans back pridefully against the bridge, finally stopping his slouching. Sakura just huffed as she glared at Naruto, her face twisted in annoyance and disgust.

"No way, Baka! Kakashi-sensei isn't here yet, we shouldn't do anything. Plus, I don't want to get all sweaty!" She huffs and turns away, discreetly scooting closer to Sasuke, who in turn scoots away. She frowns and slumps down. Naruto looks hurt before glaring at Sasuke. He opens his mouth to scream but Kakashi beat him to it as he shunshined in front of them. It took everything he had to not reach out on instincts and attack the man as he jumps back in fright with a yell.

He soon threw on an angry look before yelling, him and Sakura perfectly in tune for some reason.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck and eye-smiles at them. "Heh, Yo. Sorry, I'm late, a black cat crossed my path so I took a long way around. You wouldn't believe how-"

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura interrupt him as he tried to use an excuse. Naruto was faintly amused at the man's excuse. He absently wonders how many the man had, seeing as he has a weird reputation. He then made a mental note to investigate the guy later on. Those records in the Hokage Tower were just begging to be seen after all.

"Maa, Maa, no need to yell. Now that I'm here, why don't we get this survival training on the road." Kakashi then pulls out a small clock from his hip pouch and sets it down on the middle stump not too far away from the bridge. He pulls out two bells after, only to gently dangle them from their strings. Kakashi eye smiles at them as he skips formalities and gets straight to the point.

"You see theses two bells right here? I want you three to try and take them from me. Whoever gets a bell passes." He says, his eye drooping in laziness but with how sharp his chakra was, however little was not hidden, Naruto knew he was anything but that. He frowns dramatically as he squints his eyes at Kakashi. Sakura spoke up then.

"But Sensei, there are only two bells!" She says, her voice high pitched as her face morphs into confusion. His frown deepens as he stares at Kakashi. She was right, there were only two bells. How were they supposed to win as a team if there were only two bells… He's never heard of a three-man squad before. Not even the history books had three-man squads written in them. Only four-man squads…

_'This must be another test…'_

Kakashi just eye-smiles at them as he moves to link the bells to his hip. They gently jingle as he moves. "Maa, Maa, I guess only two of you will pass then." Naruto watches as Kakashi expertly ignores his and Sakura's loud noises of distress as well as Sasuke's deadly glare. He just continued on. "Now then, on the count of three, I want you to take the bells from me."

"But Sensei!" Sakura interjects. "Won't you get hurt?"

**"That's not a good idea, Kit. We don't know his movements yet."** Kurama says, reading Naruto's thoughts perfectly. Naruto just gives him a mental thumbs-up as he grunts and lets out a yell as he rushes toward Kakashi with a kunai raised.

_'I know but that is what 'Naruto' would do.'_

Naruto forcefully pushes his fear away as he was grabbed and pushed down in the span of a few seconds. His face hurt as it was pushed against the ground. Holding back the urge to cry as he struggled to breathe, he lets out a cry of anger as he struggles underneath Kakashi's weight, his senses in overdrive. Naruto could hear Sakura give out a startled scream as Sasuke makes a noise in the back of his throat. It was distant though as the all too familiar cold metal presses up against his neck, making him freeze.

"Saa, I think it's you who should be worried about getting hurt. Though… I am starting to like you three. But… well, Sakura, kill Sasuke or Naruto dies." The kunai against Naruto's throat suddenly feels all the more threatening as silence floods the clearing.

Without prompting, Kakashi suddenly lets go of Naruto and backs away, putting his kunai back in its pouch. Naruto wastes no time in getting up and away from Kakashi, giving the man an angry glare, effectively hiding the terror he felt as he tries not to touch the now burning spots where Kakashi touched. He noticed himself slightly trembling but he forced himself under control and put a stop to it as he flushed his system with chakra, Kurama helping with healing anything that he could. His chakra alone soothed Naruto. He could hear the great beast grumbling in the back of his mind, now agitated.

"That is what you will be facing on the field when I allow you out there so you need to be ready. Right now, I am that enemy. On the count of three now kids!" Kakashi eye smiles at them. Before he could even count though, both Sakura and Sasuke were already gone, leaving only Naruto remaining. Naruto sees Kakashi raise an eyebrow as he stares at the foliage his teammates ran into with a lazy eye. Naruto could briefly identify amusement in it before that eye was now on him. He subtlety gulps as he continues to glare hatefully at Kakashi.

**"Kit… I still don't think this is a good idea. You are already-"**

_'I know, Kurama, but won't it be suspicious if I don't do something stupid here? It is what 'Naruto' would do.'_

**"You are Naruto, brat."**

_'Yes but not the Naruto people know. For now, I am just the idiot 'Naruto'.'_

"Hmm? You didn't hide? Oh well, lesson number one then. Taijutsu. I'll even give you the first move." Kakashi drawls out as he slouches and looks at Naruto lazily. Naruto could identify amusement in his lone eye along with the way his eyebrow was slightly tilted.

He just growls as he pulls out a few kunai and throws them at Kakashi, who, in turn, easily dodges them. Rushing forward, Naruto quickly makes hand seals. Focusing on only making twenty clones appear, he grew slightly irritated when fifty appeared instead. Oh well, it would match with his plan anyway, no matter how annoyed he grew of it.

In no time at all, his clones descended upon Kakashi. Said man only reaches into his weapons pouch, causing Naruto to have multiple clones stand in front of him as he pauses in his movements. He was tense as he stared at Kakashi before deadpanning at the book that Kakashi then pulls out.

"Really, Kakashi-Sensei? Why the hell are you reading a book right now!" Naruto yells as his eyes widen in disgust at the familiar cover. Kakashi just eye smiles before opening his book and starts to read from the page he left off on. "There is no need to give you my full attention. Do continue." He was belittling him. Naruto lets out a frustrated scream as he hears Kurama chuckling in the back of his head.

**"Oh, this 'Sensei' of yours is hilarious. Don't get too close though, make a retreat soon."**

_'He's annoying. Though, can't fault him in reading that, its storyline is pretty good. Also, that was what I was planning. I'm tempted to do combat with him but I don't want to risk it. I already feel like puking…'_

Naruto continues forwards, soon engaging in combat. The clones bombarded him as Naruto made more before using Kawarimi and switching places with a clone that was far away. He'd rather not engage in combat with his teacher so he made a tactical retreat, just like he planned. Naruto knew this wasn't like him but he didn't care as even he wasn't stupid enough to get beaten. Especially by ninja, that stuff hurt like hell. At least Kakashi seemed to be going easy on him from what he could tell with his clones.

Naruto then winced as he got a particularly bad memory of one clone getting punched in the back of the head roughly, causing the clone to dissipate. A small shiver ran down his spine but he expertly hid it as he went off to find his teammates. After all, this was supposed to be a team thing, right? It still confused Naruto why Kakashi said one of them would go back to the academy if they failed to get a bell. While he had an idea that this was a test, he'd just bring it up with Sasuke and Sakura and see what they say. No way in hell would a three-man team ever be passed. There's just no way.

Making a mental note to bump info gathering on their new Sensei further up the list of things he needs to do, he finally spots their small chakra signatures. Luckily, they seemed close together now. Stealthily making his way towards his former classmates, he climbs up a tree with ease without using his chakra. Getting settled in his high ground advantage point, he lowers his voice and whispers out.

"Psst, hey guys, I gotta ask you something."

He gained no response but he could feel the sudden shift in both of their chakra's. While they weren't visible- surprising with Sakura's pink hair, who knew they could hide so well- Naruto could also hear the slight sounds of leaves shifting. Seems that while they can hide well, they lacked in keeping silent. Naruto couldn't blame them, they never had to do it before, though, Naruto could tell that Sakura was better at keeping the leaves silent than Sasuke. Putting that question for later, he whispers out again.

"Why is there only two bells? I mean, aren't we a team? I've never, never ever heard of a three-man team. Konoha just doesn't allow that. Even in Anbu, their stationed in four-man teams." Feeling a small blip in their chakra at his last comment, he goes on to explain. "I mean, it's pretty easy to tell when you have Anbu chasing you down for a prank pulled. Hehehe, it's pretty fun-"

"Shut up, Dobe! We don't want our cover blown."

Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto quiets down, having raised his voice at the end of his speech earlier. "heh oops. Sorry," Scratching the back of his head, he continues. "'But seriously guys, why is there only two bells?"

It was silent for a few moments before it was Sakura speaking up this time. "Um… Maybe it's another test? If your words are to be believed, Naruto." Theory confirmed then. Well, at least as 90% confirmed, after all, they needed to pass to see if it was a test. From the small jolt of Sasuke's chakra, it seemed he came to the conclusion as well. In a hushed whisper, harsher but excited as well, Naruto speaks.

"Teamwork! That's it! Kakashi-sensei is trying to break our team. If he succeeds, we fail…"

"Quiet down, Dobe! We don't want Kakashi-sensei to overhear us." Sasuke interrupts harshly but didn't say anything bad on his idea. "You're right, Naruto. This could all be a plan to make us fail. That freaking jerk! Just how many tests does he plan to give us?! We aren't in the academy anymore!" Sakura says, her voice still low but harsh. Naruto opens his mouth to speak but suddenly winces and stops. Seems that Kakashi got bored of his clones.

"Ugh, Kakashi-sensei stopped fighting with my clones. I don't where he is now…" He whispers, feeling around for Kakashi's chakra. He couldn't feel it. That jerk must be hiding it completely. Naruto always did have a problem finding him, even when Kakashi was in Anbu, guarding him. He was way more skilled than the other Anbu who sucked at keeping their chakra hidden. It was either that or they just didn't bother with it much as he wasn't supposed to feel their chakra. Oh well.

"Hn… We need a plan, fast. I'd rather not fail so I will work with you but don't think we are a team. My goal can only be completed by myself. I don't _need_ you two." Sasuke says as Naruto feels his chakra hide in on himself. He furrows his eyebrow before huffing.

"Yeah, yeah, Teme. We know already. Quit with the brooding."

A small sound came out of Sasuke as the leaves shifted again. Naruto could practically feel Sasuke's glare even though he knew he was well hidden.

"I am not-"

"Boys! That's enough, we need a plan before Kakashi-sensei finds us. Stop with the bickering!" Sakura interrupts with an aggerated tone. Naruto lets out a small whine as he hears Sasuke letting out his signature 'Hn'. Jerk.

"Yeah, okay. Why not an ambush then? Teme and me can distract him while you get the bells Sakura-chan." He pouts grumpily. Sakura huffs. "Quit calling Sasuke-kun Teme, Naruto-baka."

"Sakura, you should go around wide until Kakashi-sensei's back is facing you. We'll guide him towards the west of the posts." Sasuke says, not allowing the subject to drift. "Sakura, you are also the weakest of us so you are better suited to snatch the bells from him."

Sakura's chakra brightens before there was a noticeable shift in the bushes. Sakura's head pops out of them, still fairly low to the ground. _'Huh, she's laying on the ground. Thought she didn't want to get dirt on her.'_ Grinning widely, Naruto stifles his laughter and hides his amusement. He just continues to grin as he leans forward, ready to take off at any moment. He definingly didn't just want to get away from Sakura's frigged glare. Nope, not at all.

"Then let's get this plan going. I'm already sweaty… If all fails, round up at east of the posts. There's a river nearby there." After that was said, Sakura wasted no time in darting off, but only after sending a shy smile to Sasuke. Sasuke and Naruto sat in silence before he looks over at where Sasuke sat.

"Sooo… Wanna use your fireball technique on me? I'd get Kakashi-sensei to panic." Naruto suggests. Sasuke shifted and appeared visible, a small gleam in his dark eyes. "Yes." There was no hesitance behind that word, making Naruto give Sasuke a mischievous grin before he hops down from the tree. Landing in a crouch, he uses the momentum and springs up, darting to where he could now feel Kakashi's chakra.

Time to have a little dangerous fun. Hopefully, Sakura won't yell at them.

Naruto took caution as he ran, his footfall silent and his breathing even as his eyes darted around. Sakura seemed to be doing a wide arc, allowing him and Sasuke more time. Glancing up at the sun, he notes twenty till twelve. Remembering the clock, he then glances to his side to see Sasuke.

"Hey, Teme. Throw a kunai at the clock when you can without Sensei noticing." Naruto mutters. He catches the side glance Sasuke gave him but he just gives him a mischievous grin in return. Sasuke rolls his eyes at him and looks back ahead with a small nod. With that out of the way, Naruto shifts and starts signing seals.

Ram - Serpent - Tiger

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Fifty or so clones appeared all around him and Sasuke as they jumped through the bushes and landed their surprise attack. Sasuke, having put a henge on himself to blend in with Naruto's clones, advanced forward. Naruto watched as Sasuke made hand seals, muttering under his breath before blowing out fireballs the size of basketballs.

Kakashi, who had been reading previously, was now forced to put away his book and pay attention to them now that Sasuke joined him. From what Naruto could detect of his chakra, it seemed to spike before leveling and pulling in on itself. If Kakashi wasn't right in front of him, Naruto wouldn't have known he was there. Possibly, Kakashi didn't think they would work together? He must have felt their chakra signatures group up so that didn't make sense. Or did it?

**"It makes sense, Kit. While it is highly possible he felt your chakra with the others, he most likely assumed that you three wouldn't work together with how you treated each other in the Academy."**

_'Oh, yeah that does make sense. Thanks, Kurama.'_

**"No problem, Kit. Now focus back on the battle."**

Naruto watched as Kakashi dodged the fireballs and one of his clones came in and tried to land a hit on him. Naruto edges closer, blending in with the other clones and the loud yelling of his clones. He felt sick knowing it was him who was acting this loud but he had no choice. Kakashi was dodging a few more clones when Naruto looked back at him. His wide grin turned devious as he darts forward, face now back under control and set into an angry scowl, and throws a punch at Kakashi.

As figured, he was seen right threw as Kakashi stepped to the side and jumped back two steps to miss a clone trying to tackle him before jumping up as Naruto used the momentum of him falling to throw out a kick aimed for his ankles. Naruto then springs up and, giving Kakashi a wide, mischievous grin with his eyes narrowed, he stops in his tracks as Sasuke calls out his next attack. It was aimed right at Naruto.

"Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

Naruto barely had time to notice Kakashi's singular eye widening as he felt the heat close to him before he felt a force hit him in the stomach and then back. Tumbling away from the flames as Kakashi forces them to a stop, Naruto throws out a kick, making Kakashi let go of him and jump back to avoid it, the look of pure panic in his dark eye. Suddenly, the sound of bells jingling could be heard before Sakura makes her presence known as she darts away from Kakashi and hides behind the now undisguised Sasuke, clones nowhere in sight.

Naruto laughed loudly as he lay on the ground, ignoring the pains he felt, as well as the burning in his stomach, arms, and thighs. Damn him and his reaction to being touched.

Mentally sighing, he gets up with a wide smile, directing it at the now glowering Jounin. He was about to speak but got cut off before he could even begin.

"What the hell were you two thinking?! Sasuke! You could have seriously injured Naruto! And Naruto! You should have moved! Sakura, don't think I forgot about you! You shouldn't have allowed your teammates to do that!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stared wide-eyed at the still glowering Jounin before Naruto looks down. He pouts dramatically as he forced his heart under control. "Sorry Sensei… 'But do we pass? We got the bells!" Naruto looked up at Kakashi at the end, eyes wide and shining bright with hope.

He felt terrible.

Kakashi stood his ground for a few seconds, causing for Naruto and his teammates to sweat before Kakashi physically deflates into a slouch. He eye smiles at them with a small nod and a peppy tone. Naruto was impressed he had such control over his mind and body to allow Kakashi to do that when he was obviously feeling other emotions.

"Mhm! You three pass!"

Naruto lets out a loud cheer, Sakura doing the same, and throws his arms up into the air, bouncing slightly. "We did it! We did it! Guys! We did it!" Naruto yells as he turns away from Kakashi and looks towards his now official teammates. Sakura was grinning widely with a heavy blush as she hopped in place and squealed in happiness. Her eyes were a startling emerald lit up in pure joy. Naruto took a quick glance at her body language to see the same emotions. For some reason though, relief was heavily shown on her.

_'Possibly from previously being worried, they'd fail.'_

Sasuke, while much more calm about it, was happy as well. Naruto could just tell with how his lips twitched as if wanting to smile, as well as the emotions clear in his eyes. Happiness, pride, determination. Naruto was happy for them.

"Maa, Maa, you three," Kakashi says as he walks forward, only to stand to the side of them. "Good job, you passed my test. You're the first team I've ever passed. Now then, can anyone tell me the answer for the test?" He said, looking them over equally, not singling any of them out.

Sakura shoots a hand up, looking bright as she speaks. "It's teamwork, right Sensei?" Kakashi eye smiles at her with a nod as Sakura hands him his bells back. Kakashi stuffs them back into his pouch.

"Yes, that is correct. This test was based to test your skills on teamwork. Konoha's foundation is built on teamwork so it is a major thing you three will be taught because as a team, you are one. In the ninja world, those who break the rules and regulations are trash. However, those who abandon their comrades are even worse than trash. Keep that in mind whenever you're on a mission. Trust in your teammates as they should always have your back." During the small lecture, he led him and his teammates over to the memorial stone. Naruto bowed his head to pay respects as Kakashi keeps talking.

"That was taught to me by an old friend of mine. He was my teammate. His name was Uchiha Obito." Naruto caught the slight widening of Sasuke's eyes before he looks forward. "He must have been an amazing friend then," Catching the name on the stone, Naruto once again bows his head to pay respects to Obito.

"He was."

It was silent as everyone paid respects to the fallen, no one daring to break the somber atmosphere. After a few minutes, Kakashi was the first to speak, turning back around to face his team. Naruto looks up at him and smiles as Sakura does the same, his just a little wider than hers. It wouldn't do well to be an idiot while respecting the dead, mask or no mask… Right?

**"That is right, Kit."**

"Saa, now then. I want you three here tomorrow at five o'clock in the morning. Oh, and boys?" Kakashi looks Naruto and Sasuke in the eyes, giving no favoritism. He eye smiles then as Naruto feels a heavy pressure. They wince away from Kakashi as he shoved KI at them. "Don't do a stupid stunt like that again in training. Ja ne!" He then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

They just stare at the spot he used to be before Sakura huffs and crosses her arms. "That man is such a jerk!" Sasuke nods before letting out a 'Hn' and starts to walk away, ready to be done with socializing. Sakura catches this and blushes before chasing after him. "Wait for me Sasuke-kun! Why don't we go out on a date?"

Naruto didn't bother to listen to them anymore, he was just glad that Sakura wasn't going to yell at them. Fanning his chakra out, he feels that Kakashi isn't around and lets out a grin before pulling a small, familiar, orange book out of his weapons pouch.

_'I wonder how long it will take for him to notice this missing? Hehehe.'_

**"Not long, most likely Kit. Why must you continue to provoke people?"** Kurama lets out a heavy sigh, sounding so tired of his host's shenanigans. Naruto just chuckles as he looks up at the sky before darting over to look at the now ruined clock. His grin just widens.

_'It's what I need to do to keep myself safe… and it's fun.'_

Kurama just grumbles as Naruto pockets the perverted book and darts off, jumping threw the trees with ease. After all, he had a Sensei to stalk and a records room rummage.


	5. (4) Of Mystery and Questions

The sky was dark as the stars glistened above. All was quiet in the village of Konohagakure no Sato as the moon was high in the sky. Shadows shifted and twisted under the light of the moon as ninja passed through them, getting from place to place. One ninja, in particular, was quite small, only that of a child's. The small ninja continued on its merry way towards its destination, making sure to keep itself hidden from everyone. It, he, was silent as he jumped from roof to roof, his destination clear in mind.

The Hokage Building.

Landing on top of the building in question, he subtly moved about, sneaking into the building through the vents on top with ease, his size helping him as he then crawled using chakra to pad his sounds. With knowledge of where he was going, he crept around until he was right above the records room. Slipping out with practiced ease and quiet footfall, he lands inside the room and goes about making sure no one was near, even if he couldn't sense anyone. He also made note of the traps and how to avoid setting them off.

Once done, he then sets out finding the file he needed. Going down the line alphabetically, he soon stops at the letter 'H'. Sifting through the files and scrolls, he pulls out the file he needed. Briefly checking for any traps, he cracks it open when he finds non.

**:Hatake Kakashi:**

**Clan: Hatake clan (Last Hatake)**

**DOB: September 15 — XXXX -**

**Sex: Male**

**Jutsu: -**

**Rank: Jounin - Anbu: - - S-Rank**

**Past: Hatake Kakashi was a genius among geniuses as the boy graduated at 5, and became Chunin at 6. He achieved the rank of Jounin at the age of 12 before joining the secret ranks of ANBU. Hatake Sakumo committed seppuku when Kakashi was six, causing for Namikaze Minato to take him under his wing. Because of his Father's actions though, it caused Kakashi to have a faulty mentality. Under the tutelage of Minato, he becomes a Chunin before getting two more teammates at the age of 11. Being sent out to war, it wasn't until Kakashi turned 12 and received his Jounin rank did tragedy strike once more. During a mission to destroy Kanabi Bridge, Minato got separated from his team as Kakashi took lead. This resulted in Uchiha Obito's death, crushed under rocks after pushing Kakashi away from the fatal accident. At the Uchiha's last request, Nohara Rin transfers Obito's eye to Kakashi's, Kakashi having previously gotten an injury, causing for one eye to be damaged. They were rescued by Minato. Now a team of three, it wasn't until three months later did Rin get captured. Kakashi went after her and rescued her but Rin was a ticking time bomb by then. Rin ran in front of an attack meant for an enemy nin, knowing Kakashi wouldn't kill her willingly. She died with a smile on her face… Another tragedy stuck only a year later when The Kyubi attacked the village, killing off his Sensei. Now alone, he enlisted in Anbu soon after.**

**RANKS/TEAMS: Former Anbu: - Genin Team: Team seven(Deceased). Sensei: Namikaze Minato (Deceased), Teammates: Uchiha Obito (Deceased), Nohara Rin (Deceased). ANBU: Team Ro(Disbanded)…**

He read the reports briefly on the Hatake man, learning quite a lot about him but still not enough to sate his curiosity. The man's records were practically blank with only the man's name, date of birth, ranks, and a few scarce details of the man's past. What he did read though, was enough the make the child awed at his achievements.

He was surprised to learn that the man had been the student of the Fourth Hokage but then reasoned that it made a lot of sense with the man's reputation. What really caught his eye though, was the mans Genin team. They were dead, yes, but the way it stated that they were dead was… Quite disturbing.

He was already disturbed and it didn't even give the full details of the report. It seemed that someone didn't even want a lot of this recorded which made him suspicious but he reasoned with himself that it was probably in the higher secured records down in IT. Knowing that this was a good as he was going to get, he then sets out on tidying up.

Quickly getting rid of his traces on the file, he then puts it away before also getting rid of any of the traces he left behind. He then slips back up into the vents and back out onto the roof of the Hokage building just as silently as he came in. Feeling at least a bit more satisfied, he slips off home to ponder over his next actions, wondering how to take it from here and possibly, getting a bit of sleep in.

Though, he didn't see that happening any time soon as sleep usually evaded him. Oh well, the guy could dream anyway.

* * *

Naruto let out a huff as he scowls, defiantly not pouting, at his new teammates. "OH come on! It was only by an hour, Sakura-chan! My alarm clock broke!" Naruto whines out as Sakura glares at him with disapproval.

"Hour or no hour, baka! Kakashi-sensei told us to be here at 0500 o'clock! We shouldn't disobey our Sensei unless the situation calls for it!" Sakura argues back as she crosses her arms and leans back against the cobble fence railing behind her. Sasuke was off to the far right side of the bridge, skillfully ignoring the two of them as he instead, focuses on the book in his hands.

Naruto could distantly make out the title of the book being something about Kenjutsu before he feels the air shift in a familiar way. Not moving, he allows himself to get hit upside the head by Sakura as he lets out a pathetic whine and hunkers down with his hands gripping his now hurting head. With closed eyes, he whines to Sakura once more.

"But, but, Sakura-chaaan!" He pouts, crying crocodile tears.

"No buts, Naruto-baka!" Sakura screeches as she straitens her poster and puts her hands on her hips. "While it is not acceptable for Sensei to be late either, he, at least, is a Jounin. Don't go following his example!" She finishes, glaring daggers down at him. Naruto pouts at her and lets out another whine as he dramatically plops down onto the floor in defeat.

"I'm sorry…" Naruto mumbled out quietly as he crosses his arms and continuingly pouts down at the ground. He didn't fight back at her any more than he already had as he could see the guilt hidden in her eyes, as well as the subtle way her fingers twitched at every insult she said. He decided to let her have this battle, though, a little begrudgingly.

Sakura just huffs down at him before turning away to glance at Sasuke, a blush now on her face. Before she could utter a single word out though, a small poof of smoke resonated in front of the Genin, causing for both Naruto and Sakura to pounce up and point at their Sensei, a complete one-eighty of their previous moods.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi scratches the back of his head as he eye smiles at them. "Maa, Maa, sorry. A mirror shatters on my way here to I took a long way around but then a black cat walked under a latter so I-" He gets cut off by Naruto and Sakura yelling once more. "LIER!"

Sasuke was standing to the side with a 'are you kidding me' look on his face with his arms crossed, having got up and put his book away when Kakashi appeared. Kakashi just eye smiles at them as he slips his hands into his pants pockets. He skillfully ignored the three Genins glares.

"Now then! Let's get started on our missions. Today we are doing five D-Ranks. Let's get chopping!" Clapping his hands, he turns around and heads back towards the village. Naruto whines and slumps his shoulders while Sakura grumbles with crossed arms as they follow after their Sensei. Sasuke was just silently glaring at the man as he took the rear, keeping his distance from everyone. Annoyance was heavy in the air.

**"Try not to suffocate on D-Ranks brat,"** Kurama says sarcastically as he crackles. Naruto sends him a mental glare as the dreaded D-Ranks were soon to start. When he was still green to ninja stuff, Kurama had taken great joy in bursting that bubble of innocence around him. On the bright side, he was at least going to get paid. He just hoped that a lot of their missions didn't have to interact with the villagers much.

'Shut it, you damn fox.'

* * *

Naruto was muttering under his breath as he holds the cat closer to his chest, said creature growling as it clutched its claws onto him, cutting the skin underneath his thin clothes. He, Sakura, and Sasuke were making their way back with Kakashi walking in front of them at a languid pace while reading. The sun was already setting when they made their way into the Hokage building, going up to the mission desk to return Tora the cat back to her owner.

They had been out all day doing their missions with sour moods at the glorified chores they were given, Sasuke's especially. Meanwhile, Kakashi had just watched them in hidden amusement as he chilled up in the trees reading between his hidden glances. Luckily for Naruto, it seemed that there were only two missions that had required interacting with the villagers. Even then, Kakashi took care of those interactions.

Kakashi stepped up to the paper filled desk and handed the now completed missions to the man on duty, getting four pouches in return. Taking one, he hands the other three to the others. "Maa, here's your pay. Don't go spending it all in one go." He says as another ninja comes up with a cat crate. Naruto prided the cat off of him and put it inside of the crate when the ninja opened it before taking the handed pouch from Kakashi.

"Okay, Sensei," Sakura said as she and Sasuke take their pouches as well. Pocketing them, they follow Kakashi back out of the room and then out of the building. Once outside, they then stopped a little ways away from the front door. Kakashi looks down on them with a lazy slouch, staring at all of them equally.

"I believe that is all for today. Tomorrow we'll meet at the same time and place. You're-"

"Hey, Hey, Sensei!" Naruto interjects. Kakashi pauses and raises an eyebrow at him. "Yes, Naruto?" He questions. Naruto looks at him with wide eyes as he continues. "How does the rank system work? When should we be able to take on higher missions? Is there a certain limit?" He asks, causing for Sakura and Sasuke, who were previously not paying attention, to turn and look at Naruto before looking at Kakashi expectedly. Kakashi barely reacts, besides from the small shift of his weight, before he reaches up and scratches the back of his neck. He looks over his new students, suspicion hidden behind apathy.

"Ranks? Shouldn't you have learned that in the academy?" He questions lightly.

"No, Sensei, they never mentioned anything about ranks beside the usual Genin, Chunin, and Jounin titles," Sakura speaks up as she holds her hands behind her back. After a moment of silence, Sasuke nods in agreement. Because Naruto was looking for it, he sees the slight narrowing of Kakashi's eye, as well as the small twitch his hand gave.

"Maa… That's troublesome. Well then, the ranks are, as you know, Genin, Chunin, and Jounin. There are also the ranks higher than them, such as the Block Opts and the Hunters. In subdivisions, there are IT, Interrogation and Torture, as well as the Hospital, which on its own is it's own multisector of divisions. What you're trying to ask, Naruto is how to get higher missions. To do that, you need to take fifty D-Ranks to get a C-Rank. Thirty C-Ranks gets you a B-Ranks while fifteen B-Ranks gets you an A-Rank. S-Ranks are only given to those strong enough and only by the Hokage as they are suicide missions, hence the letter 'S'. You three shouldn't have to worry about those for a long while though." Kakashi pauses as he looks over his attentive students.

Naruto was interested as he goes over this new information. While Kurama had always helped him in learning stuff, even the fox didn't know much on Konoha's ranking system and Naruto had never bothered to look. It seemed they had a long way to go before they got a C-Rank then. 'Or…' A mischievous grin appeared on his face. Before Sakura, who had an excited gleam in her eyes could speak, Naruto spoke up.

"Do we have to do D-Ranks as a team every time or can we take them on by ourselves?" Naruto ignores the small glare Sakura shot him as he grins up at Kakashi expectantly. Kakashi stares down at him in silence for a moment before responding cautiously. "You may do them during your own time and that would still count as a team." He says slowly, growing suspicious of Naruto's shit-eating grin.

"Yatta! Then I can just send out a few clones every day to help us get a C-Rank! Ne, ne, Sakura-chan, isn't that great? So we don't have to do a lot of D-Ranks!" Naruto exclaims. Sakura's eyes widen as she stared at Naruto, her jaw slack in surprise. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto could make out Sasuke giving him an odd look before his facial features smooth back out. With the way he was still staring at him though, Naruto knew that he was still surprised. Naruto just grins at them, acting like there wasn't a care in the world.

Kakashi's eye was narrowed as he looked at Naruto before tension left his shoulders. Naruto hides his surprise at not noticing the man was tense beforehand. 'Interesting…' There was a pregnant pause surrounding them before Sasuke breaks it.

"Hn… Usuratonkachi." Sasuke crosses his arms as he stares at Naruto. Naruto frowns and glares over at Sasuke. "OI! Shut it, Teme!" Sasuke just smirks at him as Sakura snaps out of her shocked silence to glare hard at Naruto. "What have I said about calling Sasuke-kun that! Baka!"

"Why, Dobe? It's what you are." Naruto lets out an aggravated grunt and moves to go towards the Uchiha before a hand on his shoulder stops him dead in his tracks. He forces himself to not react but he couldn't help the slight tensing in his muscle's.

"Now, now, children. No fighting inside the village, especially not outside the Hokage Building. Naruto, that idea is brilliant but I will only permit you to three solo missions a day for each of you. Naruto, Sasuke, don't antagonize each other. Sakura, Sasuke, be nice to Naruto and each other. You're teammates now. One of these days, you might have to kill for each other." Kakashi says, getting on to everyone. He looked over them equally as he said this.

Sakura blushed and looked down at her feet with a frown as Sasuke grunted and looked away. Naruto gave Kakashi an odd look before he too pouted and looked away. "We're sorry, Sensei," Sakura mutters as she shifts nervously. No one said anything for a few moments before Kakashi lets out a quiet sigh before clapping his hands and eye smiling at the three Genin. They look back up at him.

"Maa, just be careful then. Now, if that is all, you are dismissed." Not giving them any time to say anything, he then disappears in a poof of smoke. Sending his senses out, Naruto can tell that this time, Kakashi wasn't around to watch them as he did before. Now left alone with his teammates, he looks at them, only to see them looking back.

Reach up, he laughs as he rubs his neck. "Sooo… Ramen?" He asks, causing Sasuke to let out a 'Hn' before turning and walking away. Sakura pauses, a look of conflict on her face before she glances at Naruto and back at Sasuke. She then frowns and huffs.

"No way, Naruto-Baka! Wait for me Sasuke-kun!" She says, going after Sasuke after saying that the Naruto. Naruto watches them go before he lets out a sigh and turns around, heading to Ichiraku's by himself instead. He had kind of figured it would be like that but he still tried anyway.

Suddenly, something catches his attention, causing him to look up ahead. Spotting a full head of pineapple, a grin breaks across his face as he darts forward.

"OI! Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru stops in his slow-paced walking to look back at Naruto, letting the Genin catch up to the lazy genius. "Hey, Naruto. What's up?" Shikamaru drawls out once Naruto was close enough. Naruto grins at Shikamaru as he slows to a walk beside his former classmate, said boy moving to walk with him.

"Nothing much! I just saw you and thought we could hang out for a bit. Wanna go to Ichiraku's with me?" He asks as he holds his hands behind his back, looking to the side at Shikamaru face. Shikamaru was looking ahead before he glanced at Naruto's shining eyes. Naruto felt a small surge of triumph as he watched the lazy boy sigh and mutter out a small 'troublesome'.

"Yeah, sure." He mumbles before jumping to the side, away from Naruto's flailing arms. "Yatta!" Naruto throws his hands up in glee as he grins at Shikamaru. Shikamaru just stares at Naruto with narrowed eyes.

"Ne, ne, how's your team? Did your Sensei test you? Mine did. Man, he's such a lazy pervert!" Naruto says as he goes back to holding his hands behind his back with a grin, squinting at Shikamaru. Shikamaru lets out another sigh.

"Team's alright. Ino won't shut up about training though. Asuma-sensei is pretty chill and is fun to play shogi with." He says with a drawl in his tone before asking, "Do you play shogi? How's your team?"

Naruto laughs as he spots Ichiraku's up ahead. "Ah, no, I don't play shogi but I would like to try. Never had the opportunity to play before. My team is a wreck! Kakashi-sensei is lazy, Sakura-chan is still fawning over the Teme while the Teme is still a Teme!" He complains as he slips under the curtains at the entrance of the small restaurant and then slips into a stool. "What about Chōji? He okay?"

Shikamaru follows him in and slips into a seat beside the bright ninja. "Chōji is alright, still eating as ever. He's not exactly liking the training though." Naruto laughs as he waves over Teuchi. "I bet. He's not exactly a fan of training." Naruto grins at him again before Teuchi comes over.

"Hello, boys. What would you like to order?" He asks. Naruto answers right away. "The usual old man!" Grinning cheekily, he bounces in his seat as Shikamaru orders as well.

"Miso ramen please."

Teuchi grins at them and nods. "Comin' right up! It'll just be a moment." He then turns around and goes back into the slightly open kitchen. Naruto continues to bounce in his seat. They were both quiet as they waited for their meals to arrive. Naruto was ignoring the calculative stare Shikamaru was giving him in favor of watching Teuchi cook their food. It remained like this until their food came out.

Naruto grins up at Teuchi. "Thank you, old man! You're the best!" Grabbing his chopsticks, he breaks them apart and starts to dig into his ramen. Shikamaru nods to the chief. "Thank you." He too then breaks apart his chopsticks and carefully starts to eat as well, not wanting to burn himself, unlike Naruto.

Teuchi laughs and nods at then. "You're welcome, boys! Enjoy your meal." He turns around and goes back to cooking for the few other costumers after saying his part, careful not to stray to close to the pair. Naruto and Shikamaru ate in silence for a while, thinking to themselves until Shikamaru breaks it. "What are you planning?" He questions, staring into his bowl as he grabs for another bite.

Naruto looks at him from the corner of his eyes, swallowing his food to respond. "Eh, whatcha mean?" He asks, causing for Shikamaru to look over at Naruto with narrowed eyes. "You know what I mean. What are you planning? It's going to fall eventually so why try at all if that is the end result?"

Naruto was silent as he looked in the narrowed eyes of Shikamaru's, a grin plastered on his face. He thought over his words carefully, taking another bite of his ramen. Naruto knew Shikamaru knew of his masked, he could never really hide it from the lazy genius anyway as he had to spend practically every day with the boy. He was just surprised at how long it took for Shikamaru to ask.

Naruto speaks after a long silence between them, his voice low and steady, completely contras to his normally squeaky loud voice. A grin was on his face even as he said this, not matching his tone at all.

"While it may fall, by the time it does I will hopefully have accomplished what I wanted," Naruto says as he flashes a wide sunny grin at him and goes back into eating his ramen vigorously. Shikamaru stares at him for a solid minute before letting out a sigh. "Troublesome… So, what's your plan then?" He questions once again, curious.

Naruto just smiles at him with his head slightly tilted. He gains a mischievous look and puts his finger to his lips, "Secret~" He then laughs loudly and goes back to eating his second bowl. Shikamaru just sighs and sets his chopsticks over his bowl. He then stands up, making Naruto looks at him with confusion.

"Wha's up?"

"I'm done. I'll be heading back home now, my parents are probably wondering where I'm at." Shikamaru says as he takes out his wallet and puts the correct amount of change on the counter. Naruto grins at him. "Okay! Thanks for having dinner with me, Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru smiles at him as he pushes his stool back in. "Thank you for inviting me, Naruto. We should do this again." Naruto forces himself not to react besides just a bright smile at Shikamaru, his eyes closed for added effect. He was about to respond when Shikamaru continued.

"Later, let's play shogi together, I'll teach you."

Naruto's smile drops in favor of a surprised look, not all of it fake before Naruto once more give Shikamaru a grin, this one more genuine. He felt warmth rush through him at Shikamaru's words, causing him to stare at him with a happy look in his eyes. "Okay! Thank you, I'd like that!"

Shikamaru stared at him for a moment before grunting and returning the smile. He then turns around and makes his way outside, waving at Naruto over his shoulder. "Later, Naruto. Goodnight." He drawls out before disappearing into the streets. "Goodnight!" Naruto yells after him as he can't stop smiling. Turning back around, he tries to get his face under control but fails. His face felt oddly warm for some reason as well.

Propping a hand upon his cheek to hid some of his face from the other customers to the left in the restaurant, he feels confusion at his sudden lack of control, at the warmth he felt, as well at why his face was so hot.

'Kurama, what is this?' He asks his furry friend. Kurama laughs in his mind, the sound faint but oddly soft.

**"That warmth means you're happy, Kit. You're happy and because of that, you're blushing as well."** He explains softly, even if his voice was gruff. Naruto's eyes widen at that as he picks up his fallen chopsticks, them having fallen into his bowl without him realizing, his smile dropping in favor of a surprised look.

'I'm… Happy?'

He stares into the half-eaten bowl of ramen in silence, not eating just yet. Kurama smiles at his host, even though Naruto couldn't see, and responds.

**"Yes… Happy. It's a nice feeling, isn't it?"**

Naruto was silent before he smiles a small smile, barely a tilt of his lips, far smaller than his usual ones but… Far more gentle and real than any smile he's done before.

'Yeah… It's nice.'

"Naruto-kun? You okay there, kid?" Naruto snaps out of his trance and looks up to find Teuchi smiling down at him. Naruto stared at him for a second before giving him a wide grin. "Yeah, old man Teuchi! Just got distracted!" Teuchi just gives Naruto a gentle smile, understanding in his eyes before grabbing the change and empty bowls he and Shikamaru left. "That's good, I was afraid you might have turned into a statue. I'm glad you didn't." He teases.

Naruto laughs as he swirls his chopsticks around to get a big bite. "Awe, come on, old man! I wasn't gonna!" Both he and Teuchi laugh before Teuchi gives his goodbyes and goes back into the back of the kitchen. Naruto continues eating then, feeling in a much lighter mood than when he had first come here. He reflects on the conversation he had with Shikamaru before grinning and finishing up his food. Putting the correct amount of change down of the counter soon after, he yells his goodnight to Teuchi and slips off back into the village, heading towards his own secluded base, away from his 'home'.

He had a lot of thinking to do after all.


	6. (5) Of Pranks and Dye

A grin stretched across his tanned whiskered face as he walks to the training grounds with a skip in his step, an hour late once more. Naruto didn't care though, too giddy to worry as he still had another hour or two before their Sensei decided to pop in.

Today was April first, twelve days after becoming a team and the perfect day for what Naruto had planned. After all, pranks were guaranteed to happen on April fools. Naruto was sick and tired of going on D-Ranks, spending very little time actually practicing his skills with his teammates. So, Naruto devised a plan that he was determined to not fail.

After all, if Kakashi was annoyed at him, maybe he'd take it out on him and his team through training, right?

While it was risky for Naruto as that meant more touching, he was determined to complete his self-made mission. It would be beneficial in the long run for a lot of things, especially for Sasuke and Sakura.

Fastening his pace just a little more as his eagerness grew, he soon arrived at training ground seven, only to see both of his teammates already there. With intentionally loud footfall signaling his arrival, Sasuke and Sakura stop what their doing, reading from what Naruto can see, and look up to see him walking towards them. Sakura frowns at him as Sasuke raises an eyebrow and goes back to reading.

"You're late." Sakura grouches out, her eyes narrowing at Naruto. Naruto just gives her an apologetic grin as he subtly sends out his chakra to see if Kakashi was waiting around again. To his surprise, he wasn't. Naruto entertains the thought of Kakashi already falling into one of his pranks before discarding it to reply back.

"Ah, Sakura-chan, teme, sorry I'm late, my alarm clock broke again." He says in a cheerfully apologetic tone, not at all sorry. Sakura looks at him with a deadpanned look as Sasuke glares down at his book, determined to ignore them both. Naruto just hides a snicker.

"Hey, what's with that look? I was doing something really productive last night that I think both of you would like!" Naruto says as he plops down on the ground in front of them. At this, Sasuke finally looks up from his book to glare balefully at him. Sakura huffs as she frowns with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"Oh, and what's that, Baka?" She said in disdain, though it was watered down and sounded more annoyed than anything. Naruto just snickers openly at them. "You know what today is right?" He asks playfully, only to receive twin blank looks. Naruto laughs outright at them. "It's April Fools, guys! Today, I am _sooo_ pranking Sensei! Last night, I was up all night setting up prank after prank all over the village, especially around the Jounin apartments as I don't know which one Kakashi-sensei lives in. There are also a lot of traps set up around this training ground as well. If you want, I can go over them for you two so you don't get stuck? I plan on trying to convince Sensei to train us today instead of D-Ranks. Wanna help?"

Naruto looks up at them, having squinted his eyes closed as he talked, making overdramatic gestures with his hands. Sakura and Sasuke looked visibly surprised at Naruto, the latter hiding it better than the former. Naruto just continues to grin at them as he could see the gears in their heads turning, the books in their laps long forgotten now.

Sasuke was the first to speak up, eyes now narrowed at the cheerful blond.

"What do I get out of it?" He asks cautiously, staring directly into Naruto eyes, a small thoughtful frown marring his face. Sakura looked between the two of them with wide eyes and an odd look on her face before it slowly turned into suspicion. She then glanced around them in suspicion as she listened to them speak. Naruto raises an eyebrow at Sasuke, causing Sakura to turn her gaze on him with a small glare.

"Other than getting a day to prank Sensei endlessly? More training." He says, sounding more confident than he was at his plan. Sakura's look of suspicion quickly morphed into one of confusion as Sasuke's eyes narrow further. "More training? How would that work if we are pranking him?" Sakura asked, generally confused at Naruto's logic. Naruto just grins at them as he leans back onto his hands and explains.

"Well, if he's annoyed then he'll likely try and get back at us, right? And what's the best way of getting back at defenseless Genin? By training them into the ground until they can't stand. In other words, more training. Kakashi-sensei is a Jounin and _no one_ gets that title so easily. Not to mention, he grew up in war. He's bound to know a lot of things but is too lazy to teach us. And anyway, I'm not going to stop pranking Sensei after today as I plan to annoy the crap out of him. Today, you two can be forgiven because it's an unofficial pranking holiday."

It was silent after Naruto finished explaining, Sasuke and Sakura both now looking at him with twin looks of disbelief and thoughtfulness before, after a few minutes of thoughtful thinking on both parts, it morphs into deviance. Sasuke smirks coldly at Naruto as Sakura sports a large unsettling grin.

Naruto didn't know Sakura could look so evil until now.

"Oh, I am so in! It's about time Kakashi-sensei got a taste of his own medicine! What about you Sasuke-kun?" Sakura says with a wicked gleam in her emerald eyes, lips pulled back in a bloodthirsty smile. Sasuke just hums as he continues to smirk at Naruto and Sakura.

"Of course I'm in. Sensei has put off teaching me anything valuable for far too long." He says voice heavy with twisted mirth as his eyes glaze over at the possibilities this opportunity presents.

Naruto just laughs in joy, hiding his unease at the bloodthirsty smiles they were giving him but he couldn't help but agree to this as well. He wanted to be trained, damn it! "Alright! So, here's the plan! There are around forty traps laid out in the surrounding forest, non of them conceding outside of this training field. Of course, I did trap the other training fields as well, buuut that not important. What is important is that you two know where to step. The clearing here is clear." Naruto pauses to see if they have any questions and, upon seeing them staying silent, he continues.

"The east side is more trapped than the north or west as that is the side that we seem to gravitate towards whenever we do train as the foliage is better there so Sensei won't really notice if we head that way since it's normal. It's a great place to set up pranks and traps, that's for sure. Anyway, I set up a lot of pranks along with all the ways I could think of to get to this training field so Sensei will most likely have fallen into at least one so we should be prepared for his ire just in case. I'm banking on him being annoyed for this plan to work but even if it doesn't work, I still plan on being an annoying little shit. Sakura-chan, I'm gonna need your help in begging him into doing three on one training. Possibly a little word from you too, teme. Once we get him to agree, we herd him towards the east side. Once there, we will continue with Plan Blue."

Naruto pauses to glare at Sasuke when the boy snorts at the end of his explaining. "What Teme? Got something to say?" Sasuke just smirks coyly at him. "Your naming sucks." He states in amusement. Naruto narrows his eyes, one eye already twitching in aggregation. Before he could get very far though, Sakura interjects as she shifts to the side.

"What if Sensei isn't annoyed? What would we do then? Would the plan still work?" She asks as she closes her book and grabs her pink and tan backpack she had next to her. She stuffed to book inside it. Naruto lets out a huff as he crosses his arms. He nods to her after giving Sasuke one last glare, getting a heated one in return. "Yeah, It will still work… Maybe? Uh, I don't know. This plan is a fifty-fifty plan anyway so it's possible this whole plan will fail even if Sensei is annoyed. It's based around luck and how good we can work together to get back at Sensei." Naruto explained, ignoring the further narrowing of eyes directed at him once he mentioned teamwork.

**"Is that all that little Uchiha can do? Just narrow his eyes and pout?"**

Naruto tried very hard not to laugh but he couldn't help a small quirk of his lips, only to feel the heated glare on him intensify. _'Kurama why?! Now he's gonna be a prissy princess the rest of the day!'_

Kurama just snorts. **"Oh well, your problem, not mine. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when the fun starts."** He then proceeded to block out Naruto's whine of anguish, smirking all the while. Naruto mentally cries crocodile tears. _'Freaking jerk!'_

Sasuke suddenly slamming his book shut snaps him out of his mental cursing. Snapping his annoyed gaze towards Sasuke, he sees the Genin stand up after giving Sakura the book he had. "Well, If we're going to do this, then we need to hurry before Kakashi-sensei comes. We have about an hour to an hour and a half before his arrival. Dobe, how long will it be to look over the traps? Plan 'Blue' can be briefed to us along the way." Sasuke questions, stretching his body as he did so, sneering at the word blue. Then, as if to correct himself, he tacks on, "And don't misinterpret this. You're not my friends, nor do I consider you two my teammates. I'm only doing this to get more training."

Naruto rolls his eyes with a frown as he bounces to his feet, Sakura soon joining them in standing after putting up the book Sasuke had handed her. "Twenty to thirty minutes, just as long as we do it right. Quit being such a jerk, Teme." He said with a frown before a sudden thought enters his mind. A dark gleam then entered his gem blue eyes. He grins foxily at them, mischief clearly sparking in his eyes as he shifts his body weight. "Time to put those field course lessons through the test, Teme, Sakura-chan."

Naruto couldn't help crackling at Sakura's paling face as she and Sasuke stiffen. With a look of sudden regret, Sakura voices out her thoughts. Defeat was already heavy in her voice. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

Naruto holds his stomach as he leans forwards still laughing up a storm at Sasuke giving her a side-eyed look in barely counseled pity. Sakura tries desperately to ignore them both, even while her pale skin turns even paler.

* * *

Sakura grumbles as she sips on a water bottle, glaring in disdain at Naruto. Sasuke was right beside her in her endeavor to kill Naruto with a glare alone. The gloomy boy was sitting off to the side of her sipping his own water bottle, one he had gotten from Sakura. Naruto just ignored their glares of disdain in favor of finishing chugging down his water. Once the bottle was over half empty he stopped and capped the lid on it before finally looking at his disgruntled teammates. He gives them a sunny closed-eyed grin. Their glare just turns harsher.

"That's a death trap," Sakura said as she capped off her own bottle, chunking it into her backpack. They had been sitting there for about twenty minutes now after they finished going over all the traps. Naruto had been right and it had only taken thirty minutes to do, minus a few mishaps and some slow pacing due to Sakura.

All three of them were slightly dirty but nothing they couldn't explain to Kakashi with the excuse of doing a little training before he got there. It has been around an hour since they have been here, three for Sasuke and Sakura so Kakashi was bound to turn up any time now.

"Hn." Sasuke hums, slightly tilting his head in confirmation. With pinched brows, he voices the question that's been on his mind since halfway through the briefing, not having believed it before. "How long did it take for you to do all this? It couldn't have only been tonight." Naruto just looks at him with a grin. "All night. Clones are quite helpful." He states cheerfully.

Sasuke just raises a disbelieving eyebrow at him before snorting. "Idiot, like I'll believe that." He says, smirking at Naruto with a smug look. Naruto glares at him as Sakura pauses and looks between them with a look that clearly said she was so done with their shit. Naruto quickly darted to his feet, accusingly pointing at Sasuke with an angry look on his face.

"You listen here, Teme! I'm not an idiot! You are! I'm gonna be Hokage someday!" He hid a wince at the plain lie but pushed on forward. He then turns red at the impossibly smugger smirk Sasuke gave him. Naruto lunged forward, not allowing Sasuke to speak before a small poof of smoke signaled the arrival of Kakashi. Spinning on his heel, Naruto didn't miss a beat in pointing an accusing finger alongside Sakura at Kakashi. Oddly enough, they were once again in sync. That just seemed to happen when they yelled together. It kind of crept him and Kurama out…

"You're late!" They yell.

Kakashi eye smiles at them, scratching the back of his head as he slouches. "Maa, sorry. An old lady asked me to carry her groceries for her—"

"LIER!"

Cracking open his eye, he stares out at Naruto and Sakura in amusement, his mask crinkling slightly, showing Naruto that he was actually smiling. Naruto forces back the smile that he wanted to show and instead just glares balefully—i.e. pout— at Kakashi while Sakura just huffs as she glares at him as well, now standing. Sasuke was looking up at Kakashi with crossed arms, refusing to stand up until he knew for certain their three-v-one plan was going to go into action. Childish it may have been but Sasuke was out of fucks to give. He wanted to be trained and he wanted it now!

"Both you and Naruto! I swear! Quit being late!" Sakura yells, Glaring at both of them now. Naruto pouts at Sakura as he lets out a whine as Kakashi hums, sending a glance Naruto's way. "Ja, sorry." He shrugs before his eye glints and narrows in on Naruto's slumped, glaring form. "Now then, Naruto, care to explain why the Jounin building it booby-trapped?" He asks, his voice was overly chipper and sweet.

Naruto winces before flashing an innocent grin up at him. His eyes twinkle in mischievous. "Nope!" He says, popping the 'P'. He then lets out an eek and ducks down to the ground, glaring up at Kakashi in bewildered shock as he looked between the kunai ebbed into the tree behind him.

"What the hell, Sensei!?" He yells, face slightly pale. Sakura and Sasuke had jumped away from Naruto as soon as they felt Kakashi's KI spike. Having instinctually felt to move, they were now staring wide-eyed between Kakashi, Naruto, and the kunai. Kakashi just eye smiles and claps his hands twice.

"I've decided! Today will be a training day, my little Genin!" He says cheerfully as if he wasn't still leaking a small dose of KI at Naruto. Said boy was sweating bullets as he glared at the man, striving off a miniature panic attack with the help of Kurama to regulate his body.

_'That was too close… I didn't expect him to do that!'_

**"I'm gonna kill that damn scarecrow! Kit, calm down and pay attention!"**

Sasuke's hand immediately shoots up, even as his heart still pounded heavily in his chest and his eyes were, while not as wide as they were before, still slightly wide. Sasuke finally settings on looking at his Sensei as Sakura shifted stances, falling out of a scared civilian pose and into one that allowed easier access to body movement. Kakashi raises an eyebrow at the two but nods to Sasuke.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?" He questions, silently inquiring for the boy to speak. Sasuke lowers his arm and visibly forces his body to relax, though he was in a stance that was clearly meant for running away, just like Sakura's. Naruto glanced between the two before relaxing his stiff poster, following in their lead to look ready to run, even as he calmed the panic attack by counting the buttons on Kakashi's vest to how many leaves he could see, as well as repeating his name, age, and ninja ID number in his head. He didn't want to go into a full-blown panic attack right now.

"Can we do a three-v-one? Genin versus Jounin?" Sasuke asks, voices slightly shaky and cautious, eyeing the Jounin up and down before glancing at Sakura and Naruto, then back at Kakashi. Kakashi said nothing for a long moment, letting the Genin stew in a tense silence before he suddenly eye smiles as he nods.

"On the count of three, kids! One—"

Naruto quickly darts backward and makes a beeline for the old Oak tree northeast of them. Sakura and Sasuke follow him. Kakashi just watches them go with a dark gleam in his eye, a grin tugging at his mask as he counted down before he took off in a dead sprint.

Naruto panicked when he couldn't feel Kakashi anymore as they entered the forest, going over traps of the like before a soft sound from their left startled him enough to pause. Which, in turn, caused for Sasuke and Sakura to pause. They look up in growing horror to see Kakashi perched on the branch above them, eye smiling at them.

"You got to be faster than that, little Genin." He said cheerfully before darting forward. Sasuke barely had enough time to block before a punch from Kakashi sent him skidding backward into a tree. Luckily, the hit wasn't enough to injure but it was enough to disorient him.

Sakura shrieked as she fumbled back, tripping over her own legs as Kakashi headed for her next. Naruto, thinking fast, darts forward, setting off the trap in front of Sakura, a scented smoke screen, and grabbed both Sakura and Sasuke before darting back off towards their planned destination. To the east side, it was first then.

After a few paces, Sasuke was bounding alongside him with slightly numb arms while Naruto still helped Sakura get on her feet while continuing to run. It only took a few more seconds before she too was running alongside him and Sasuke. Both of them were breathing heavily. After running for a few more minutes uninterrupted for some reason, Sakura manages to wheeze out enough sounds to make words.

"What… the hell… just happened back… there?"

Naruto answers her, seeing as Sasuke is too preoccupied with breathing at the moment. "That… is an annoyed Kakashi, and, the best training we got at the moment. We will be demolished…" Naruto glances over to look at Sasuke, only to snort and look away when he sees Sasuke with a look of utter horror and defeat on his face. He feels the glare on him but ignores it.

A resounding boom goes off not too far away from them, causing Naruto to grin. "He must have set off the dye bomb trap… I hope it was the pink one." He says in glee as they keep running, almost to the randevu spot. He feels a small spike of KI off to where Sasuke was, causing him to glance over. He quickly looked back ahead at the bloodthirst smirk curling Sasuke's lips upwards, his dark onyx eyes narrow in some dark emotion.

"With Glitter." Sasuke states. It was as if, now that he knew what Kakashi had been holding back on them, all the anger that had piled up over the two weeks they've been a team has finally broken. Kakashi was just that infuriating. Sakura huffed as she started to slow down before she suddenly feels a chill and shrieks.

Her shrieks get cut off as she gets her feet knocked out from under her, making her fall to the ground. She lets out a groan of pain instead. KI flooded the area as Sasuke and Naruto stopped to help their teammate, only to see a dye covered Kakashi glowering over her downed body. In a move that shouldn't be that threatening, Kakashi eye smiles down at them as he lays a foot in the middle of Sakura's back so that she won't move. Sakura doesn't move an inch.

"Nobody moves, no one gets hurt." He said, voice apathetically cheerful, however he manages that tone.

Naruto and Sasuke share a look as, while they were scared shitless and pale, they hide laughter at how ridiculous Kakashi looked. Naruto's secret hoping had come true as Kakashi did hit a dye bomb but it was not the color pink. Oh no, it was just as degrading on the ninja though. A vibrant purple covered most of Kakashi's flask jacket and Anbu pants. The right side of his face, where his other eye was covered, was covered in dye as well as most of his hair. What made it better was the glitter that could be seen reflecting off the rays of the afternoon sun like a mystifying rainbow.

Naruto couldn't take it and bursts out laughing, doubling over while pointing at Kakashi, the other hand being pulled out of his pocket and now holding his stomach. The KI in the air spiked before it dissipated, helping the three Genin breathe. Sasuke turned away to hide the smirk on his face, holding in his snickers. Kakashi just stares at the two boys in annoyed amusement as he moves away from Sakura, allowing her up. When she finally got up though and took a look at Kakashi, she turned her face away from him and tried hiding her laughter.

It didn't work.

Kakashi let them laugh it out while he remained silent, staring at the three all the while. Naruto and his teammates would finish laughing before looking up at him and going right back to laughing. After a while, once they seemed like they were calming down enough to not burst out laughing at the sight of him, Kakashi spoke.

"Maa, Maa, now that you three are done laughing, we can get back into training, ne?" He asks with an eye smile and an innocent tilt of his head. Naruto looks at him, chuckling slightly as he nods. He speaks with a shaky voice.

"Ah… Um, yeah. Let's do this, Tattebayo!" He yells the last part in a shaky cheerful voice as he continues to chuckle at Kakashi's new look. Sasuke calms down and forces himself to stare at Kakashi with a straight face. With how his lips were twitching so much though, Naruto knew it wasn't as easy as he would have liked it to be. Sakura, on the other hand, was openly giggling now just staring at her Sensei, face dirtied and flushed.

Naruto then mentally freezes when he notices a dark look enter Kakashi's eye. Said eye was staring intensely at Naruto. He started to sweat under that look as it wiped the rest of his amusement away. "Uhm… Yes, Sensei?" He asks. Kakashi just hums before eye smiling.

"Maa… Naruto… You wouldn't happen to have my book from two weeks ago, right?" Kakashi asks voice laid backed and questioning. Naruto couldn't help but pale then, having though Kakashi forgot about it. He takes a step back and raises his arms, waving them in front of him.

"No, no, I don't! I swear!" Naruto stutters, looking away from Kakashi before realizing he wasn't watching him if he attacked and looked back to watch Kakashi closely. Kakashi just stares intensely at Naruto, eye narrowing dangerously. "Well, then… Training time~" He says in a dangerous sing song-like voice. Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all pale respectively as a harsh amount of KI hit them, their knees feeling weak as they felt lightheaded. Kakashi just claps his hands in cheer with a sinister-looking eye smile at them.

_'Demon!'_

* * *

Naruto stares up at the dusking sky above in a daze, sprawled out like a starfish. Sakura and Sasuke were on either side of him laying down, Sasuke on his stomach and Sakura on her side. All of them were tired, exhausted, and in pain. They had spent seven hours training, most of it was done in the east part of the forest. A lot of the traps had gotten Kakashi but he had stayed clear of any more dye getting him after another bomb, this one dark purple, hit him. The same could not be said about the Genin though.

During the training, everyone had accidentally set off quite a few traps as they had to keep moving, otherwise, Kakashi would round them to a pulp. All of them were unlucky enough to fall into a dye bomb. While Sakura was hit with a dark blue dye bomb, luckily only getting splatters and not drenched as she had ducked and rolled away, it turned half of her pink hair into a violet purple. Sasuke was hit with a neon yellow dye bomb. He, too, only got splattered like Sakura as he had used Kawarama to escape. Sadly, he didn't get far enough. While that didn't seem so bad, part of his hair now was glowing a vibrant yellow. It was only glowing like that because of the density of chakra Naruto put in it though.

Naruto on the other hand… Well, he got hit twice with a dye bomb. The first one had been a magenta dye bomb that splattered across the right side of his body and hair, causing for parts of his hair to turn red as it drenched him. The second dye bomb was of a light blue, which regretfully, turned other parts of his hair green and mixed off with red and yellow. Luckily, he didn't get that drenched but he was still pretty covered in it.

Naruto was exhausted, in pain physically and mentally from training and from touching. His body felt hot all over and he ached. Luckily, Kurama tried taking away most of the pain but there was only so much he could do.

Naruto clocks back into his surroundings once he hears the tell-tell signs of someone approaching them. Shifting his head to the side, he stares at Kakashi's ridiculously painted and glittery form, who was now holding his stolen book in hand. Naruto cracks a smile at him before it falls at his next words.

"Maa, that was fun. You're dismissed. I want you three here at five o'clock sharp as usual."

Sakura and Sasuke's groans of dismay matched his perfectly as a poof was sounded, signaling Kakashi making his escape. Closing his eyes as his head pounded, he gives a weak grin as he felt around and found no Kakashi in the vicinity. "I am so continuing to prank Sensei." He mumbled. He hears Sasuke snort as Sakura lets out a low whine.

"I won't survive… This is the end… I'm done for…" She mutters, causing Naruto to let out a weak laugh, wincing at jolting his bruising body. "Nah, don't worry Sakura-chan, we'll get used to it… Hopefully. It's certainly better than going out on a mission that severely outclasses us." Naruto says voice strained. He once again hears Sasuke snort.

"So much better," Sasuke says, voice sounding breathless and strained.

They lay there for what feels like hours but was only about twenty minutes before Naruto shifts and slowly sits up. He slouches heavily, trying to ease his throbbing body. Letting out a sigh, he slowly works himself into a shaky stand before looking back out at his now lightly dozing teammates. He pulls out the camera in a sealing scroll in his pouch and snaps a photo before hiding it away once more. It had been a gift from Jiji and he didn't want to ruin it.

"Hey, guys?" He whispers, jolting both of them back into consciousness.

"Hn?" Sasuke hums questioningly as he and Sakura look up at Naruto with half-asleep looks. He just smiles down at them. If his smile was softer than his usual ones, either neither noticed or neither mentioned it.

"Why don't we start heading home? I can stay up for a bit so I can help you guys get there." He says, voice soft as, just like he, they most likely had major headaches as well. There was a moment of silence between the three, in which Naruto took the time to stretch out his sore body for more use. Finally, Sakura speaks up. She was looking away from him as she spoke.

"I… Think I would like that… Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto gave her a weak, tired, grin that was more of a smile. Sasuke grunts at him and slowly starts pushing himself up without answering Naruto's question. Naruto raises an eyebrow at him but goes over to Sakura to help her to her feet. Once she was on her feet, Naruto slings one of her arms around his shoulders while he wraps an arm around her waist. She blushes but doesn't say anything, only leaning heavily on Naruto.

Once this was done, Naruto turns to see if Sasuke needed any help, only to see the Uchiha standing on shaky legs. Walking the few steps to get to him, he grabs the boys arm and forcefully pulls it around his shoulders, crossing Sakura's. Sasuke grunts and glares at him but, surprisingly, doesn't complain.

Naruto then makes his way towards Sakura's house first as she was the closest, enjoying the nice companionable silence that surrounded them. They collectively ignored the civilians and ninja alike that stopped and stared at the trio.

When they were almost to Sakura's house, a loud shout called out to him from up ahead. Looking up, having been absently keeping a look on his surrounds but had been mostly in a daze like trance, he sees Kiba and his two other teammates, Hinata and Shino.

Naruto continues walking as they jog to them. Kiba gives Naruto a large mischievous grin, Akamaru lazily pouched atop his head as Naruto slows to a stop. "Hay, Naruto! What the hell happened to you? Got pranked?" He asks, laughing loudly at them. Naruto gives him, Hinata, who was looking down with a blush and poking her fingers together, and Shino, who was standing silently behind them, a weak grin.

"Ah… yeah. I trapped our training fields to prank Sensei. We got him but… He got us back with our own traps." Naruto says sheepishly. If an arm was free, he would be scratching his neck right now. Kiba's eyes widen in shocked glee as he once again laughs loudly. This seemed to be a bad move though as Sakura stirs from her daze like state at last, Sasuke just turning hateful eyes on him, both not in the mood to deal with anyone.

"Can you move so we can go, dog boy?" Sakura said in a snappy tone, causing Kiba's eyes to widen, stiffening, and step back. Akamaru's ears were down as well. Hinata looked at Sakura with confused worry before looking between the three of them as Shino tilted his head slightly.

"K-Kiba-kun… M-Maybe we sh-should leave them b-be…" Hinata stutters out as she reaches forward and grips one of Kiba's sleeves. Kiba frowns but nods. He gives them an unsure grin.

"Heh, sorry 'bout that! I'll let you guys go. But! Naruto! I want a spar with you when you get a chance! To test our strengths like in the academy! Alright, g'night!"

Without waiting for a response, Kiba turns, grabbing Hinata by the hand and Shino by his sleeve, and makes a run for it, leaving Naruto confused and Sasuke and Sakura pleasantly happy. Sasuke's 'Hn' draws Naruto to look over at him. Sasuke just nudges him in return.

"Let's get a move on." He says, Sakura nodding her head in agreement. Naruto just looks in confusion between his two teammates before just pushing the whole situation behind him and nodding, giving them a grin and proceeded to take them home.

It took around five minutes to reach Sakura's house, where Sakura moved away and, after saying goodnight, went inside without having to get her parents to open the door for her. It was now only Naruto and Sasuke as they made their way past Naruto's place and went straight for Sasuke's. It only took fifteen minutes to get there, all of it spent in silence.

Once they got to the gate of the Uchiha District, Sasuke slowly pushes away from Naruto to stand in front of the massive gate, arms crossed. They stood there in silence staring at each other before Sasuke lets out his signature 'Hn' and turns around, opening the gate. Naruto watches him in silence, just like they did with Sakura, to make sure he got in safely. While Naruto would much rather walk him to his house in there, he didn't want to push any boundaries of their friendship than he already had.

What he didn't expect, though, was Sasuke to speak up just before he closed the gate behind him. Looking at each other in the eyes, Sasuke gives Naruto a nod.

"Thank you. Goodnight." He then proceeds to slam the gate closed and head home with an odd peace settled around him. Naruto just stares at the door, jaw slightly slack before a small, truly happy smile graced his face, his gem-like eyes twinkling brightly as his face felt aflame. He then turned away, got his face under control, instead just grinning now as he couldn't force his smile away, and headed home.

All the way there, he continued to grin, butterflies dancing in his stomach even as he went inside, locked the apartment up for the night and turned on the lights. Dropping his grin back but unable to drop his smile, which was now soft but still happy, he went over to his bed and pushed it slightly away from the wall to tap a seal with chakra that was on the wall hidden by the bed. Out came a scroll.

Laying the scroll out on the floor he extracts a large photo binder from it before flipping it open. Getting his camera, he carefully grabs the pictures he's taken, having had a camera that printed out the pictures as soon as he takes them, and looks them over. While he was supposed to blow out the pictures for better graphics, it seemed that they came out alright. Awesome.

Pulling the camera back, he stares into it and snaps a picture of himself. Grabbing the picture once it was printed out, he waves it around for a moment, letting it dry before he looks at it. He snorts. He looked ridiculous and probably will for a while with his hair now partially dyed. Putting the camera away once more, he then takes the four pictures now in his hand and carefully puts them into the photo binder. He was glad he had left a clone to take a picture of Kakashi earlier to get an updated version, having taken a picture of Kakashi when he first got hit with a dye bomb. Staring down at his and his team's pictures of being covered in dye, he was feeling a soft, weird feeling in his chest and couldn't keep the smile off his face. He also felt odd warmth against his face, causing him to believe he was blushing again.

Letting out a sigh, he puts the photo binder back up and seals it back away into the wall, moving his bed to where it belonged. He then went about grabbing pajama's and setting them on his bed before taking a quick, regrettably cold, shower. He brushed his teeth and tried his best to dry his long hair before he got dressed in the pajamas he laid out and fell into bed. He went to sleep with a smile still on his face and Kurama making an odd purring noise in the back of his head.

That night he slept a full eight hours of sleep, no nightmares to be seen.

* * *

**Done~ Man, 6k words for this chapter. Heh, I rounded this up in the last week too. this month has been a bit slow on me as I couldn't find what to write for most of this month, nor have the drive too. I got it done though! Yay! And 6k words at that! I was tempted to do more but held off on it. I hope you liked it and happy Halloween!**


	7. (6) Pranks For Days With the Results of

**Day 1**

Naruto scowled as he looks at his wrecked living room, traps and paints spewed across the floor and walls, some even getting on the windows. It would seem that Kakashi had a little _too_ much fun with his prank on him. Naruto couldn't help but feel amused and amazed though as he looked on. It was exhilarating to know someone would be daring enough to prank him and that the prank wasn't deadly nor painful. Just annoying, and a bit of paranoia as Kakashi had been in his apartment without permission. Besides the breaking in part, everything was new to Naruto, having never been pranked liked this before. He didn't know how to feel about feeling like this so he decided to just take it in stride as he narrowed his eyes, calculating every little detail he could see. Even if he felt this way, he had still been pranked and it wasn't like him not to pay it back in kind after all.

A wiry grin slowly overtook his once scowling face then. Stepping forward, he went about cleaning up the mess Kakashi had made when the trap went off. It had been triggered by Naruto opening his front door annoyingly. Several hours of cleaning later, Naruto was finished and ready to put his newly formed plan into action. Not wasting any more time, he set about grabbing his supplies he kept hidden in the seal behind his bed and heading to training ground seven.

Phase one of plan Screwed was now in action.

**Day 2**

The next day, the contraption of florescent smoke screens came to a surprise to all but Naruto as the boy crackled. Everyone was covered in a mixture of florescent powder from the powders, non-lethal, he had put into the smokescreen. While he was also covered in it, he didn't mind as he looked upon a colorful Kakashi. Maybe he just had a thing with putting colors on his Sensei now but he savored the images of an aloof Kakashi looking non too happy.

Sakura was coughing as she covered her mouth and nose, backing up with a weary Sasuke right beside her. They both shot glares to Naruto as he hadn't bothered to clue them in on his prank. Oh well, Naruto did warn them yesterday and it was always nice to add more pictures to his album. This was only the beginning after all.

Kakashi just eye smiled at him and then proceeded to start the training, throwing his KI around in odd doses all throughout that day. It put Naruto on edge and disoriented him at times but he did his best not to show that and the growing panic he felt. He felt Kurama at the edge of his mind that day with how much trouble Kakashi was causing for him. Naruto appreciated it but he knew this was his own doing. He took pride in that, even though he was scared shitless. From what he could gather, the man didn't get physical with him unless it was for training, unlike most of the village. Mainly the civilians.

That night he limped home with Kurama healing the injuries he got from training. Going inside, he shed his clothes, took a shower, and proceeded to drop onto the bed in just boxers, not caring for his semi-wet hair.

Without any warning, he froze when the bed exploded in a concoction of white feathers, sticking to his somewhat wet form. Naruto's face darkened then as he ignored Kurama's surprised laughter.

This war was _so_ on.

**Day 3**

Naruto snuck around the Jounin apartment building, sniffing here and there as he tried to sort through the scents surrounding the place, having not felt any chakra signatures coming from inside. It smelt musky and of blood but also of a weird honey-like smell. Naruto could understand the musky and bloody smell but the honey one had him confused as to why the hell it was there. It was because of these overpowering smells that Naruto could hardly smell Kakashi's scent on the place.

Maybe that was the reason for the smells then? Especially that honey one, it just threw him for a loop every time.

Another hour passed as he went around the place once more before he finally caved.

_'Ne… Kura-chan? Can you help, please? I can't smell or sense him around here.'_ He asked with an annoyed tone. Kurama just lets out a gruff chuckle as he shifted, the sound of water splashing could be heard.

**"I want to hunt tonight then."**

_'Okay, that's fine by me.'_

Naruto then set back as he felt Kurama start to take over. It felt odd to Naruto every time but he just shrugged at the feeling as Kurama's power surged to the front, only hidden by a layer of his so that ninja didn't panic at feeling Kurama's chakra. His once blue eyes were now red and with a slit in them as they narrowed. Luckily, no one was around so Naruto didn't worry much. Kurama then went about sniffing the place for a few more minutes before letting Naruto take back control. He slunk into the depths of his mind once more.

**"Third story, the tenth door at the end of the corridor. You're welcome brat."**

Naruto beams and takes off back home. _'Thank's Kurama! You're the best!'_

Now, he just had to grab his tools.

That day he set about a prank on Kakashi for training later. Kakashi came home covered in mud from head to toe from the explosion Naruto set up close to the river in the training ground. Kakashi wasn't amused.

**Day 4**

Sneaking into the Jounin apartment complex had been surprisingly easy. Hiding his chakra with the help of some of the seals he made a week ago, as well as Kurama, he ran along the ceiling until he reached his designated spot. Looking at the all too innocent door, he sniffed at it. He still smelt the musky, bloody, and honey smell but he could smell Kakashi's scent stronger now. It was still fairly faint, leading Naruto to believe that the man wasn't inside his home now.

So, without further ado, he quietly sneaks inside the home after picking the lock on the door. Dodge and bypassing the traps the Jounin laid out around the apartment, he then went to work on his plan, still being cautious just to make sure. Kakashi's scent was everywhere in here as he went about finding the bathroom. It almost made him sneeze at the density of it but he managed to hold it in. Finally, he found the bathroom.

Going inside, he went right over to the bottles sitting on the edge of the tub. Reading them over, he uncaps them and pulls out two small dye bottles in his weapons pouch. He then squeezes the pink one into the shampoo and the green one into the conditioner. Putting the now empty bottles back into his pouch, he then brings out a spoon and stirs them in before recapping the two bottles.

After that was done, he sets them back in the same place and position they were in previously before pulling out a small bag filled with white powder. With an evil grin, he then dumps half of the bag inside the body wash before doing what he did to the others and stirring it in.

Ah… Naruto couldn't wait to watch as Kakashi scratched himself red. Oh, the humiliation he'd feel when he'd have to scratch his junk in public. With a small crackle, he caps the bottle and puts it back how it was. He then made his way out of the bathroom and into the open-spaced area of Kakashi's claimed spot of sleep.

Sifting through the man's closet and dresser, he takes all the man's shirts and underwear, sealing them into a storage scroll he made just for this. He then set out unsealing and hanging up long-sleeved pink shirts with masks attached. While he didn't make any of these, even if he personally wanted too, he had gone into town in a disguise and ordered it. It was surprisingly cheap to order ten of these pink shirts. That just goes to show him how much the people really hate him.

Naruto absently thought he should go out in disguise more often and get groceries but then decided against it as Sasuke was already helping enough as it was. He was running low though and had some money saved up. Maybe he should ask Sasuke for another groceries run today.

With that idea in mind, he finished his job and quietly left the Jounin apartment building, heading straight towards the Uchiha district where he knew Sasuke would be. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

**Day 5**

Sakura gasped and clenched her hands into her shirt as she turned as pale as a ghost, Sasuke and Naruto not fairing any better beside her. Kakashi's KI was heavy in the air as he glared down at them with annoyance and anger. Naruto and his teammates were on the floor, the KI too heavy for them to stand up as Naruto looked at Kakashi.

The man was twitching every few seconds, seemingly holding back from scratching himself. The part of his face that they could see had dark red lines shown just over his mask. The man stood rigid and stiff, poster straight. Naruto let out a breathy chuckle and grinned shakily up at Kakashi, eyes narrowed in scared glee as he looked at the mans now monstrous hair.

Instead of the purple and silver, it was yesterday, it was now a concoction of purple, silver, green, and pink. It would seem that Naruto's prank had succeeded in every way Naruto wanted. Well, besides the pink shirts. It would seem Kakashi either had extras sealed away or he bought new ones. That or he's wearing the one he had on yesterday. Naruto couldn't tell.

Naruto paled further then as he felt the KI in the air intensify, causing him to feel nauseous as his body shakes. Luckily, he didn't puke but the same could not be said for Sakura as she hurled up her breakfast. Sasuke seemed to be faring better but not for long. Kakashi just stared down at them with a glaring eye. He didn't speak about the prank Naruto pulled but Naruto could tell he wanted too. Instead, the man just gained a sadistic and dark gleam in his dark eye. Then, with the KI lifting slightly, he eye smiled at them as his masked pulled oddly, making Naruto believe the man was grinning. Naruto couldn't even see it and he knew it was a savage grin.

"Maa… You better hurry up and run my cute little Genin~"

**Day 6**

Naruto let out a groan as he laid on his bed, night having already fallen. He had just been discharged out of the hospital from yesterday's training. It had been brutal on him and his teammates. Naruto felt a little guilty in having pushed this onto them but when he thought of what they were being trained like previously and how easily they could die, he suppressed that guilt in favor of hope. He didn't want to see their corpses one day after all. He may not be close to them and they may not like him but he still cared for them. He's known them for six years after all, how could he not grow to like them and their dorkiness?

Naruto lets out a sigh as he looks outside his window and up at the starry sky above. Tonight would be a good night for stargazing. Just as he pushed his tired and sore body up to go outside though, a small boom went off inside his living room. Shooting up and out of bed, he ignored his pretesting body and darted to the room only to stop dead in his tracks.

_'Or not…'_

There, all around his room, was more colorful paint. Not just that though. White feathers were everywhere as well, being colors in all the paint. Naruto's face darkened as he clenched his fists, his gaze dark as he lets out a growl.

_'That man is just asking for it now!'_

**Day 7**

Waking up the next day, Naruto got dressed in a dark mood. The reason? Well, the first one was the mess of his living room. He had cleaned it up as best he could but couldn't get rid of some things so there was still dried over paint and feathers about the place. A lot less, yes, but still there. The second reason was because of his clothes. His previously orange jumpsuit was now a monstrosity of colors. Pink, orange, yellow, blue, purple, green, you name it. It was all there. The only thing left untouched on it was the white collar of his jacket, making the colorful monstrosity seem to pop out more in contrast to the white of the collar.

While Naruto wasn't particularly mad about the jumpsuit, he thought it looked better than before as orange was a bit too… tasteless, he was annoyed and paranoid. Kakashi had once again snuck into his home without Naruto noticing until it was too late. Because of that, he had trouble sleeping last night and yet the man still found enough time to sneak into his apartment again and color his clothes! It was just frustrating!

He let out another growl and with a plan in his mind, he went out that day with his cheerful act played on high, all the while ignoring Kurama laughing at him and making small sarcastic comments here and there. He felt humiliated with how the villagers reacted to him, if not a little amused but he just brushed it aside for a more important mission. After all, he wasn't called the king of pranks for nothing.

**Day 8**

Naruto grins cheekily as he holds his sides, his body aching and sore. He looks at Kakashi as Kakashi looks back at him with a narrowed eye, KI heavy in the air but luckily, not heavy enough to make them fall to the ground. Naruto and his teammates for thankful for that. The reason why Kakashi was annoyed at Naruto though? Besides the obvious, was because Naruto had done exactly what Kakashi had done to him. Naruto wasn't going to be the only one being humiliated for a while because of his clothes. So, he had snuck into Kakashi's apartment yesterday night while the man slept.

Luckily, the man hadn't woken up, Naruto thanked Kurama immensely at the help he received, and dyed the man's flask jacket the same way Kakashi dyed his jumpsuit. Naruto knew for a fact that it took at least two weeks for a new arrival to come in so Kakashi was stuck with that colorful monstrosity for at least two weeks. That gave Naruto enough time to save up money to buy new clothes too.

With the man now sporting a head of purple, pink, and green, making an abomination of a concoction and black clothing, his now colorful flask jacket made just the perfect image. It would seem that Kakashi is still suffering from the itching powder as well, though not as bad.

There were still faint red splotches on the man's cheek, from what he could see of it, but it was barely noticeable. Naruto was still annoyed and paranoid that the man has such ease getting inside his home but he knew there was nothing he could do about it unless he wanted to show his cards early. Kurama had warned him not to so he didn't as it wasn't such a good idea. At least the pranks were fun. Kakashi was surprisingly good at setting up pranks on him. Naruto found it odd to be pranked as it had never happened to him on such a friendly scale before. He didn't dislike it, that was for sure.

Naruto continued to stare at his Sensei as his Sensei stared back in annoyance, the man's poster stiff and not slouching as the silence was starting to stretch thin. It kind of reminded him of the first day when Naruto put itching powder in his body wash. Ah, what a good memory that was. Naruto had even managed to capture a picture of the man too! It was now sitting in his collection back at home.

Sasuke and Sakura were standing beside Naruto, both still sporting their dye covered hairdo. Naruto found it funny because every time they went around the village, people would stop and stare, no matter what rank they were. He's even spotted a few Anbu doing it. He was pretty sure there were dozens of pictures of them like this hidden away in people's closets.

"Maa, morning." Kakashi finally said, breaking the tense silence. "Today is going to be different. Now then, follow me, my cute little Genin~" Kakashi said, tone cheerful as he eye smiled and turned on his heel, the KI in the air instantly disappearing. Naruto's smile stretches wider as he follows the man, even as the sudden disappearance of the man's KI disoriented him a bit. Sasuke was right beside him on his right with a tight look on his face while Sakura took a few unsteady steps behind them on his left before shaking out of it and catching up. He sees Sakura glance at him, her lip twitching before she looks away, Sasuke expertly ignoring everything to do with them. Naruto just continues to grin as he bounds forward and moves around Kakashi to walk backward in front of him.

"Ne, ne! Sensei, what are we gonna do today?" He asks, voice chipper and curious, his crystal eyes wide as he stared up at Kakashi. Kakashi just stared back down at him as he returns to his lazy poster, singular eye drooping. With his hands shoved into his pants pockets, he responds back.

"Eh… You'll see." He said, giving Naruto an eye smile. Naruto lets out a whine, ignoring the glares he could now feel on his back as they reentered the village.

"Awe! Come on, Sensei! Not fair!" He whines, squinting his eyes closed with a massive pout. Before Kakashi could reply though, Sasuke beat him to it.

"Shut up, Dobe." He mutters. Naruto whips his head around and glares at him. "You shut up, Teme!" He says aggressively.

"Baka! Don't call Sasuke-kun that! Listen to Sensei and leave it alone!" Sakura butts in, sending her own glare to Naruto. Naruto wilts with a pout as he moves around Kakashi to walk in between the two. He sends a small glare at Sasuke, only to receive a smirk in response. He just glared harder with a frown. The rest of the walk went by in an odd silence as he and his team collectively ignore the stares they received. Soon, they arrived at the Hokage building.

Walking up the stairs, they bypassed the wide-eyed ninja and the frozen lady at the desk and went straight to the Hokage's room. Standing in front of it, Kakashi knocks. Naruto felt the man send out a small, almost unnoticeable pulse of chakra before there was a faint voice saying to come in.

Kakashi opened the door and they entered the room and stand in front of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Hiruzen blows out a puff of smoke as they stood there, causing Naruto to crinkle his nose. Hiruzen sent him an amused look, eyes drifting over his clothing and hair before doing the same to his teammates and Kakashi. His eyes held a great amusement, even as he kept the small smile on his face neutral.

"Ah, Kakashi-kun… What can I get for you and your team today?" The man asks, gently setting down his pipe. Kakashi bows to Hiruzen before speaking.

"Maa, I'd like to request a boarder mission, Hokage-sama," Kakashi says. Hiruzen's eyebrows raise slightly as Naruto and his teammate's freeze. Naruto whips his head to Kakashi with wide eyes, his excitement was clearly seen in them as he grins. He then starts to bounce. "Wahh! Really!? Awesome!" He cheers. Hiruzen sends him another amused look.

"Are you certain their ready, Kakashi-kun?" He asks, wanting clarification. Kakashi nods. Naruto glares lightly at Hiruzen, his excited expression vanishing as quickly as it came as he pouts. "Awe! Come on, Jiji! We're ready! I can handle myself! I'm not a baby anymore after all!" He said with balled fists.

Hiruzen stares at him with raised eyebrows before giving him an amused smile, one eyebrow now raised before the man starts sifting through the papers on his desk after he set down his pipe. He lets out a hum.

"I would think not, Naruto-kun. You certainly have grown since last I saw you. Ah… Here it is." He then takes out a slightly torn scroll from the bottom of the stack. Naruto hid his amusement at seeing the old man narrowed his eyes at the tear but he handed it over to Kakashi. Kakashi just opened the scroll and read it before nodding and pocketing it once more for later.

"This will do. Thank you, Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed to him. Hiruzen just chuckles and waves it away. "It is quite alright Kakashi-kun. Have a safe mission, everyone." Naruto grins up at Hiruzen, bouncing in his spot, causing Sasuke to inch away from him. Naruto just flashes him a large grinning smirk, getting a glare in return for his teasing.

Kakashi turned around and faced them, sending them a small glare that caused Naruto and his teammates to straighten their posters. Naruto gives Kakashi a cheeky grin, causing the man to narrow his eye at him but continue.

"We depart in an hour. Pack enough things for a month, we meet at the north gate. Ja ne!" Kakashi then shunshined away as silence descended the room. Sasuke then lets out a snort and makes his way out the room after offering Hiruzen a bow, Sakura right behind him. "Wait for me Sasuke-kun!" She says as she follows him. Naruto just stares after them before Hiruzen gains his attention. With an amused smile, he speaks.

"So… about this 'war' going on between you and Kakashi…?" He silently questions. Naruto could feel the Anbu in the corners of the room lean in slightly, their chakra shifting in interest. Naruto just grins mischievously at Hiruzen.

"He shouldn't have arrived late and only send us on D-Ranks," Naruto says, crackling slightly before bounding towards the door with a small wave to Hiruzen. "Ja ne, Jiji! I gotta get ready! See you in a month!" Naruto said with a cheerful grin and bright eyes before darting out of the door and down the hall towards his apartment to get ready. He darted past Sasuke and Sakura making their way out of the building with a wave.

"See ya at the gate, Teme! Sakura-chan!" He yelled as he ran down the road ahead. He grins at the shriek and grunt he gained at doing that. He was barely halfway there when he had to stop as he spotted Shikamaru walking out of the dango shop with his Father, Shikaku.

Skidding to a slow jog, he went over with an arm raised and waving. "Oooi! Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled as he went over, stopping the pair in their tracks to look over at him. He grinned as he stopped right in front of them. Shikamaru offers Naruto a nod in greeting as Shikaku stood back and stared between the two with a look of interest.

"Oh, hey Naruto, what's up? Finally up for a game yet?" Shikamaru asked as he munched on a stick of dango. Naruto's bright grin then turns sheepish as he scratches the back of his head. "Ahahaha… About that… Sensei set us up for a C-Rank mission, we leave within the hour. I'll be gone for a month." Naruto said. Shikamaru frowned slightly, eyebrows furrowed.

"So soon?" He questions. Naruto just gives him a kind large smile as he felt his cheeks and chest warm at the worry that could be heard. "Hehe, it's nothing to worry about, just a simple border patrol mission." He said as he starts to rock back on his heels before glancing up at the sky. His eyes widen before flashing Shikamaru another grin.

"Ah! Sorry, Shika! I promise to play a game with you when I get back! Later!" He said before darting off back towards home.

"Safe mission!" Shikamaru yells at the blond.

"Thanks!" Naruto yells back before disappearing down the street. Shikamaru frowns at this as he bites into another dango as his thoughts raced. A small cough broke him out of his thinking though, causing him to look at his old man. Shikaku was just staring at him with his thinking face on as amusement shone.

"I didn't know you two were close." He said. Shikamaru just shrugs his shoulders and starts walking, not divulging his old man any information he was digging for. He would never give away Naruto's secret like that unless the blond wanted him to. Not even to his pops.

"Troublesome…"

* * *

Naruto and Sakura let out a surprised exclamation as Kakashi appeared right on time. Their eyes were wide as even Sasuke looked a little surprised at the man's early arrival. Kakashi just eye smiled at them, still in his monstrosity of a flask jacket.

"Maa, now that everyone is here, let's get going." He said cheerfully, making his way out of the gate. The Genin follows behind him in a stupor. This mission was just starting and it was already odd. Naruto hid a look of amusement then as he looked at Kakashi. He hoped this wasn't an omen for their mission. Hopefully, if it was, it wasn't a bad one.

* * *

**Hello! I hoped you liked this chapter! Honestly, I put it off for half of the month before writing half of it and putting it off until a few days ago. Heh, it was hectic as I did the same with Owari. I had finished Madara-Sensei's chapter and was working on the next one so all I had to do was proofread it luckily. Anyway, see you on the 31st of December! Oh, and happy belated Thanksgiving!**


	8. (7) Training on the Road and Bonds

Naruto looks around in curious awe as they walked, eyes looking into the forests around them. He had never really been outside the village before and while he knew it was just like the forests surrounding the inside of Konoha, it was still... Mystifying? Something like that anyway. It was just an odd feeling to Naruto in general.

He found he didn't really mind it.

He could feel the stares on him as he continued to look around in silence, face full of curiosity. He knew it was odd to stay silent but Naruto, for once, couldn't find the right words to spout nonsense about. So, he decided to just let it run its course.

**"You're slipping brat."**

Naruto ignores Kurama's growled voice as he internally frowns. He was well aware that he was slipping, that his guard was lowering without him wanting it to. He didn't really know how to fix it, in all honesty, causing his teammates to stare at him oddly at times.

**"You've thought of it before, why not just do it?"**

_'I was being foolish then.'_ Naruto responded,_ 'There are just too many holes in that plan.'_ He finished. He had thought about letting his mask down, feeling oddly safe around Sasuke and Sakura but he had quickly discarded the terrible idea he had thought up in the moment. It was just too dangerous. Kurama let out a dark, guttural growl then.

**"Really, kit? Every plan always has a few holes. If you don't take the risk now, you'll just end up hurt or worse."** Kurama said, annoyance heavy in his tone. Naruto paused in his stride for a split second before continuing as if nothing happened.

_'… I know… I just… can't. I can't Kurama… It's too dangerous and I'm not strong enough to protect myself yet.'_

Naruto responded before the feeling of being watched doubled, catching his attention. Pulling himself away from Kurama and their thoughts, he slides his curious gaze over to his teammates. Crystal blue eyes meet vibrant green ones as Sakura stares openly at him with narrowed eyes. Before he could ask anything though, she beats him to it.

"Why are you so quiet, Naruto?" She asks suspiciously, if not curious as well. Naruto's eyes widen slightly before he lets out a small laugh, spotting Sasuke turn his head a bit to listen in. The feeling of Kakashi's eye on his intensifies as well. He gives her a small grin as, once again, his gaze drifts back to the woods surrounding them.

"Ahaha… Well… I've never really been out of the village before so the feeling of it all is kinda cool." He replied. Sakura's eyes just narrow further. "You've never been outside the village? What about those survival trips the Academy took us on?" She questions, somehow managing to sound accusing without actually being accusing. Naruto just glances away from the woods to look back at her. With his hands clasped behind his head, he responded.

"Don't have parents so I couldn't get permission to go."

That quickly made Sakura's face crumble with regret before she quickly covers it by huffing and turning away to stare back out in front of her. He could feel Kakashi's eye dart off of him, most likely to look at Sakura for a few moments before it fell back on him. Naruto just frowns and looks back out at the surrounding forest.

**"… Why not ask your teammates, kit?"** Kurama voices slowly, cautiously, as if weary of the implications this brings up. Naruto's frown deepens slightly before he shifts his face back into one of curiosity as time went by.

_'They're powerless in this case, Kurama. They can't help and I don't want to drag them into my personal business.'_ Naruto said, glancing up at the sky above. He absently notes it was an hour past noon now.

**"Do you really believe that, kit?"** He questions but before Naruto could answer, he continues on. **"That scarecrow is an elite Jounin, ex-Anbu captain. Being the last of his bloodline, the student of the Fourth, and strong enough to rival that old monkey, do you really think he can't help you? Even with all the connections he no doubt has? What about that Uchiha of yours? He practically holds the counsel in the palm of his hand because he's the last loyal Uchiha. Or what about Sakura? While she may not have connections, she does have what all humans need. The ability to be friends. Tell me, do you really believe they're powerless? If anything, you struck gold with this team, especially since it seems that they don't dislike you."**

Naruto didn't respond right away, just opting to stare out around him, skillfully ignoring the heavy feeling of eyes on him. After around ten minutes of silence though, he finally speaks up. _'No… I don't believe that… I just… don't want them to get hurt because of me. Plus, I'm still iffy about Kakashi, don't know if he can be trusted. That and I don't even know where to start. It's been eight years since I've held this mask, almost nine. I don't even know how to remove it anymore, even if it is slipping… I don't really know me anymore.'_

**"For one,"** Kurama started softly, **"you can start by opening up to them, even if it is in small steps. Look, right now your not acting like you usually do. Just continue to do that, Kit. Bit by bit, just continue to shift yourself out of the mask you wear. It will be hard, I know, but trust me, it'll be better after that. Along the way, you'll start finding yourself too."** Kurama finished. Naruto sucked in a breath before letting it out as he remained silent, not knowing what to say to the beast inside him.

Tearing his eyes away from the sky, he glances at his teammates. Sasuke was right in front of them a couple of feet away, looking to be on high alert with how stiff he was. Sakura seeming deep in thought close by on Sasuke's right, her eyes darting to Sasuke every now and then as she lagged back a bit. Kakashi was beside Naruto, keeping his distance from him but still watching him discreetly like before. Looking away when his eyes catch on Kakashi's, he shakes his head slightly and bounds forward to stand in between Sasuke and Sakura.

_'What of the civilians Kurama? Or of the ninja who hate me? What of Danzo? You know that he doesn't rest in Sasuke's hand, nor do his men.'_

**"You fall under that Monkeys command, not them. With Scarecrow's help and the Uchiha's influence, it's possible to hold them at bay. You're a ninja now anyway. Soon, you'll be strong enough to scare them off. First, though, you have to let loose. If you don't, that luxury will be years away."** Kurama growled out. Naruto just let out a small, inaudible sigh.

Naruto grins curiously at Sakura, said girl looking over at him with narrowed eyes. "Ne, ne, what was the trip like? What'd you do on it?" He questions. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Sasuke turning slightly to look over of them, most likely curious since he too doesn't have parents. Sakura's eyes widen slightly before she glances at Sasuke. She then smiles a bit.

"Well, they didn't take us too far from the village, about a mile or so. There, they taught us how to survive in the wilderness, how to hunt, what foods to eat and not eat. It was really cool! Did you know there's this small red berry that can kill you if you eat too many of them? Some even have paralyzing effects!" Sakura said, her small smile gradually turning into a big one, full of excitement as she spoke.

Naruto looks at her in interest as Sasuke frowns slightly. Sakura just continues on. "They also trained us as usual, as well as how to find streams and rivers. Oh! When we get back to the village, I can show you two a book on survival and stuff! I went to the library immediately after to look up that stuff and I still have the books." She finished, looking at them with bright eyes and a wide smile. Naruto just grins at her as Sasuke lets out a grunt and turns away.

"Really?! That'd be awesome!" Naruto cheered as Sasuke let out a small 'Hn' with a slight nod of his head. Naruto spotted his ears a shade darker than usual but said nothing as his grin widened.

"Maa… The teachers didn't sign your slips?" Kakashi finally cuts in. Naruto and his teammates look back at him with confusion before Sasuke speaks up. "Isn't that against the rules?" He questions. Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly before he eye-smiled at them, lowering his book. "Who knows?" He asks airily, causing Sasuke's eyebrow to twitch before the boy whips around and glares ahead of him with a scowl. Naruto frowns and shifts his way before turning, now walking backward to stare at Kakashi. He could see Sakura frowning as well but more confused than anything. He pushes his annoyed expression away then, to look more curious.

"Ne, Sensei?" He questions. Kakashi lets out a hum and glances at him as he once again lowers his book. "When can we learn chakra adhesion? It'd be really cool to jump through the trees and stuff, probably faster too!" Naruto says curiously. Kakashi just lets out another hum as Sasuke and Sakura turned to look back at him again.

"Hmm… How about right now then?" Kakashi asks cheerily, making Naruto raise an eyebrow as both Sasuke and Sakura's eyes narrow at their Sensei. Kakashi just chuckles. "Now, now, kids, no need for those looks. We'll still be walking there as we do them. On the road training, as I like to call it. Now, focus chakra into your feet and try to get them to stick to the ground. Make sure to get it as small as you can. Too much will make you go flying but too little will make you slip. Focus on the ram sign as well."

Naruto looks at Kakashi with narrowed eyes and then at Sasuke and Sakura before he shrugged and turned around to walk forward. He then tries to get the smallest amount to his feet halfheartedly. He already knows the jutsu but the others didn't. Making the ram seal, he pushes the chakra through before jolting and was sent up into the air. Letting out a startled yell, he flails for a moment as he descended back to the ground. Suddenly, there were arms wrapped around him, making him freeze as his heartbeat quickened and he held his breath. Looking up with wide eyes, he sees Kakashi eye-smiling down at him as he held him bridal style. He was then carefully set down onto his feet.

"Maa, that is what happens when you use too much chakra." He explains to the two dumbfounded Genin as he carefully steps away from Naruto's tense form. Naruto does his best to relax as he takes in a deep breath before letting it out with a shaky grin. He slowly starts to chuckle, causing the others to look at him. Sasuke took a small step back.

_'I wasn't expecting to go flying like that…'_

**"Too much too fast. Cipher it out more slowly so that doesn't happen like that again."**

With bright eyes, he laughs his usual cheerful laugh. "Oh, man! That was fun! It's a great way to get out of a pinch I bet! Ooh, all the pranks I can pull with this…" He trails off into snickers before stiffening up again and looking back at Kakashi. Said man was glaring at him with a dose of KI surrounding him. Both Sasuke and Sakura stiffen as well before turning around and starts up walking, having stopped when Naruto went flying. Naruto flashes Kakashi a grin, even as he gulps, and turns around to continue after his former classmates.

Looks like Kakashi was still mad about the pranks. Glancing back at the still dyed man, he looks at his colorful flask jacket and stifles a laugh. Feeling the KI intensify a bit, Naruto knew he wasn't being as sneaky as he would have liked. Oh well. Focusing back on his training, he snickered when Sasuke was the next to go flying as Sakura slipped and fell on her butt.

For the next seven hours, it continued like this with small breaks in between every hour. Sakura made a lot of progress on her training, as well as both Sasuke and himself but Naruto made sure to stick close to Sasuke's level, just to make it more fun with their rivalry. Soon, it was time to set up camp since the sky was getting darker by the minute. Finding a good area to sleep off a little ways away from where they were previously, seeing as there was no dirt road to guide them, they set up camp.

Kakashi set up the traps around them while they worked on setting up their tents. Once that was done, Naruto and Sakura were tasked with collecting firewood. Soon, the sun set and the fire was lit, lighting up their surroundings by a bit. They set in silence then, resting and sipping water from their canteens, occasionally taking a bite out of their ration bars. Once Naruto was finished with his, he packed his canteen back into his backpack and sat underneath a tree, leaning against it.

"Who's taking the first watch?" Sasuke asks, breaking the comfortable silence around them. Kakashi lets out a hum as he clasps his canteen closed and stores it away in his pouch. Naruto suspected there might be a storage seal in there as there was no way he could fit all the stuff he saw Kakashi take out of it into it.

"Naruto and I will. While at camp, two of us will be on shift while the other two sleep. Tonight, it will be Naruto and I. We'll wake you two in four hours. Get some rest." Kakashi said, stuffing the empty wrapper of his now eaten ration bar inside his pouch. He then poked at the flames with a stick before getting up and walking the perimeter. Naruto watches as Sasuke and Sakura finish up their ration bars in silence before going into their separate tents. The only sound around them now was the crackling of the fire and the rustling of leaves with the occasional animal sound.

As always, the forest was peaceful to Naruto, even with the fire and company. Relaxing against the tree behind him, he roams his eyes about periodically, watching as Kakashi came back and jumped up into the trees for a higher vantage point. He settled into his position as a comfortable silence enveloped them. Occasionally, Naruto found himself gazing up at the moon above, well, what he could see of it through the thick thicket anyway.

Neither of them moved when the flames of the fire died out, surrounding them in darkness with the moon the only source of light. It was only in the second hour of watch duty when one of them broke the silence.

"Sensei?" Naruto voiced out, questioningly. Naruto could hear the slight shuffling of the man's clothes then, making out Kakashi shifting through the light of the moon.

"Hum?" Kakashi hummed. Naruto ignored the pleased rumble of Kurama's growl. There was a long pause as Naruto fumbled over his words in his mind for a second before he spoke.

"What was your team like?" He finally asks. Naruto had been curious about them for a while. Having found no record of them though, only bits of info through reading Kakashi's file had just made him all the more curious. Since Naruto never really got to be alone with the man, he had never been able to ask.

There was a long silence after that as Naruto looked around him. He thought Kakashi wasn't going to answer when suddenly, the man did.

"My team… They were a lot like this team, in a sense. Uchiha Obito, as I've told you about before, was a lot like you Naruto. He was always cheerful and kind. He was often late for training though." Kakashi said, chuckling at the end. Naruto frowned but said nothing as Kakashi continued. "Then there was Nohara Rin. She was aspiring to be an Iryō-nin but she never made it. She was, in some ways, like Sakura but less violent and more prone to battle smarts instead of book smarts. Of course, that was probably the influence of the war on her."

Naruto smiled slightly then, imagining them together before asking, "What about you?" Kakashi let out hum then. "Maa… Me? Well, quite frankly, I was a prick. I stuck to the Shinobi rules as if my life depended on it. It was only because of Obito that I'm not still like that." He admitted. Without meaning too, Naruto lets out a snort.

"You mean it's because of Obito you're a lazy pervert with no sense of time?" Naruto says, laughing to himself, making sure not to get too loud so the others don't wake. Soft chuckling could be heard joining his. "Maa, Maa, so cruel," Kakashi complained, not at all sounding hurt. Naruto rolled his eyes and let out another snort.

The forest soon descended into silence once more as Naruto smiled softly, positive that the darkness around them would cover it up. He felt light as he scanned the woods again, a warm feeling in his belly. His ears felt hot but he paid them no mind as he glances back up at the moon above.

'It… won't hurt to try right?'

**"Of course not, kit."**

* * *

Three days passed by quickly as they made their way to the campsite. Along the way, Naruto and his team practiced chakra adhesion. Sakura had gotten it down pretty quickly while Naruto and Sasuke still struggled. On the third night of being out in the woods, Kakashi decided to test them by giving them a kunai to try and mark their progress up the trees. Sakura only had a few mishaps before she cleared the tree. It took an hour but both Naruto and Sasuke managed the same, Naruto having allowed Sasuke to win, if only by a margin.

They had managed it though and by the next day, they saved time by jumping through the trees instead. They still stumbled and slipped every now and then but Kakashi had just said it was good for training so they didn't argue. In all honesty, it was fun. Naruto could see Sakura smiling widely with a blush as she soared through the air, her long bubblegum pink hair flying behind her. Sasuke was just as happy, from the small tilt of his lips he could see, as well as how bright his black eyes were. It would seem they loved the feeling of being airborne. Naruto couldn't fault them.

It _was_ a nice feeling.

By noon of the fourth day, Kakashi was ahead of them as they slowed down. Being instructed on how to avoid the surrounding traps, they soon made it to the campsite. Hidden away by bushes and trees was a small building, looking more like a cottage than anything. If Naruto didn't know any better, he would just bypass it as someone's house instead of the base it was.

Jumping to the ground, they walked behind Kakashi as two Jounin stepped out of the building and over to them. Kakashi nodded to them and grabbed two scrolls from his pouch, one lined blue and the other black, handing them it. Naruto looked over the two unknowns while this happened. One was a female with long dark purple hair that fell at her waist and a light shade of brown eyes. She also wore pale red lipstick that made her lips pop out against her pasty pink skin. With wearing the Jounin standard attire and a katana strapped on her back, Naruto could honestly say she was gorgeous.

Then there was the man next to her. He had short dark brown hair that was mostly covered by the bandana hitai-ate he wore with turfs of hair fluffing out. His black eyes were sharp with dark bags underneath them. He also wore the standard Jounin attire with a katana strapped to his back like the woman. He looked a bit sickly too. When the man coughed into his hand, it all but reaffirmed his suspicion.

"Yugao, Hayate, it's been a while. How's the border been treating you?" Kakashi asks as he hands over the scrolls. The woman, who Naruto suspected was Yugao, smiled and took them from him. Cracking open the blue-lined one, she reads it quickly before nodding and pocketing it and the black lined one.

"Oh, just the usual. It's a nice getaway from the usual missions I take and Hayate needed a break as well. Besides a few bandits and low-class missing-nin, it's been peaceful." Yugao said, making Hayate smile as well and nods his head. He lets out another few coughs into his hand before speaking.

"It has been oddly silent here for a while now. Hopefully, it isn't anything bad." He said, kind of sounding like a warning to Naruto before he sees the man's eyes drift over to him and his teammates who were standing behind Kakashi at a distance, silent and watching. He quirks an eyebrow at Kakashi, prompting the man to snort and Yugao to smile wider as she too looks over at them. Sakura and Sasuke shifted at their gazes.

"Maa, these three are my students. I thought it would be a good experience to get them out of the village." Kakashi said, sending them an eye smile that still somehow looked threatening. Hayate chuckled as he looked over Kakashi's form. With a raised eyebrow he hummed. "So soon?" Yugao snorted and elbowed Hayate, causing the man to chuckle before he burst out into a coughing fit. Naruto frowns as he watches on, Sakura taking a small step forward with worried curiosity.

"Ja… they seem ready," Kakashi said with amusement shone in his eye, shadowing his worry that lined his stiff shoulders. Suddenly, Naruto stiffened slightly and glances to their right as two more ninjas appear in the small clearing. Both were men wearing Jounin standard attire as well. One man had light brown hair that was straight and fell to the middle of his back. His eyes were of an off purple that had no pupils in them. He was lean as well, compared to the man standing beside him.

The taller man, who was muscular, was wearing a black lab coat over his vest. Naruto thinks it was an IT coat as he's seen many ninjas from there wear that. He had black curly neck length hair and dull blue eyes. He was also hearing two short swords across his back and multiple daggers were littered all over his body.

Kakashi and the two other Jounin turn to greet them. "Anything amiss?" Yugao asks, eyes sharp. The two men come to a stop beside them as the Hyuga, no way they couldn't be one with those eyes, shook his head. "No. It was uneventful." He said softly. The larger man nodded in confirmation. Hayate relaxed slightly.

"Good. Why don't you go start packing up after covering the report? We leave within the hour. If we hurry, we'll make it home by noon tomorrow." Yugao said. Both men nodded, glancing at him and his team, before going into the house behind them. She then turns back around the smiles at Kakashi. "Alright, we'll be packing up. The reports are in the basement as usual." She said. Kakashi nodded before Yugao turned and followed her fellow ninja inside the house. Hayate nodded and followed after her.

In the hour it took them to get everything packed up and ready to go, Kakashi showed them around the house and what traps to look out for. He also showed them how to evade them in case they ever did get trapped. Soon, they were saying goodbye to Yugao and her team before they went inside and settling in. There were only two rooms in the place so Sakura and Sasuke took one while Kakashi and Naruto took the other. When asked about the arrangements, Kakashi said that it was better to sleep in pairs in case anything happened. While Sakura was blushing like mad and Sasuke was glaring, neither of them said anything. Naruto did whine but that was about it.

A few hours later, they were all sitting in the living room. Kakashi currently had a stack of papers surrounding him as he read through them. Sakura was laying across one couch while Sasuke took the armchair for himself, leaving Naruto to sit beside Kakashi. Luckily, it was a three-seater couch and Kakashi was on one end so Naruto took up the other end. Relaxing into the couch, he closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. He was tired, more so than usual. Maybe it had something to do with not being able to relax as he does in Konoha?

Possibly.

"Hey Sensei? Aren't we suppose to be on watch duty or something?" Sakura voices out, sounding tired and muffled as her face was pushed against the couch with her laying on her stomach. Naruto opens his eyes a crack to look at Kakashi out of the corner of them. Kakashi just hums though, not even looking up at them from his paperwork. Naruto thinks those are the reports Yugao was talking about.

"Ah, I made some Kage Bunshin so tonight we can relax a bit before we start," Kakashi said. Sakura lets out a small 'oh' before shifting and closing her eyes. Naruto could tell instantly that she was falling asleep then as her shoulders relaxed from their tense state. It would seem that Naruto wasn't the only one tense about the whole thing. Letting out a yawn, Naruto stretches before pushing himself up and off the couch. He flashes Sasuke and Kakashi a grin at seeing them glance at him.

"Whelp! I'm going to go see if there's anything to cook. I'm sick of ration bars." Naruto says, his cheer turning into a grumble at the end as he makes his way to the open kitchen. He hears shuffling before Sasuke was soon at his side. Glancing to him, he raises an eyebrow. Sasuke just smirks a bit. Naruto just rolls his eyes as they both bypass the bar separating the kitchen and living room. Together, they went searching for food they could use to cook, all the while not really noticing Kakashi watching them make dinner.

That night, they went to bed on full stomachs. Sakura ended up sleeping on the couch though so Sasuke took over the other couch, taking Kakashi's words to heart about not being alone in case something happened. Because of that, Naruto joined them in the living room, taking over the armchair and sleeping in that. Kakashi just sighed and set up his sleeping bag on the floor in the corner, allowing him to oversee everything. He then set to work on the reports and watching over his team.

All in all, it wasn't a bad start to their first C-Rank.

* * *

**Notes:**

Well... Hello. Merry belated Christmas everyone and happy early new years. I am so sorry I couldn't get out a Christmas special. I was planning it but... It fell through. It would seem that doing six chapters instead of the normal three was a bad idea. I learned my lesson... The next holiday that isn't new years will be made months in advance so I should be ready by then. Now, just to go and see what's coming up.

Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter, I have a bit of trouble with it. This month has been terrible on my drive to write. Oh well. I'll see you next month, please do tell me what you think though.

"**Next Chapter:** Naruto is a bit confused about something as Sasuke and Sakura... bicker? What the hell? And what's with Kakashi? Now, a week after staying here, it would seem things were spicing up. But... Things are never really that easy are they?"


End file.
